S40.852A (Superficial foreign body of left upper arm, initial encounter) compared with S40.852S (Superficial foreign body of left upper arm, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. S40.852A and S40.852S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment. MedCoder-derived
Same underlying diagnosis, different encounter phase.
The 7th character records the phase of care for the encounter being coded, so a single encounter takes one of these characters, not several. Review whether both phases belong on the same episode of care.
Source: ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a
Same injury, other encounter phase. S40.852A and S40.852S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment, set by the 7th character.
The 7th character records the type of care given at the encounter being coded (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a), so one encounter takes one of these, not both.
| S40.852ASuperficial foreign body of left upper arm, initial encounter | S40.852SSuperficial foreign body of left upper arm, sequela | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Billable | Billable |
| Classification | S00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes | S00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes |
| Definition | Superficial foreign body of left upper arm, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S40.852A). | Superficial foreign body of left upper arm, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S40.852S). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S40 | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S40 |
| Includes | injuries of axilla injuries of scapular region | injuries of axilla injuries of scapular region |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources