S42.015A vs S42.015S

S42.015A (Posterior displaced fracture of sternal end of left clavicle, initial encounter for closed fracture) compared with S42.015S (Posterior displaced fracture of sternal end of left clavicle, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. S42.015A and S42.015S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment. MedCoder-derived

Can these codes be reported together?

Review

Encounter relationship

S42.015A

Initial encounter

Posterior displaced fracture of sternal end of left clavicle, initial encounter for closed fracture

↔

S42.015S

Sequela

Posterior displaced fracture of sternal end of left clavicle, sequela

What we found

Same injury, other encounter phase.S42.015A and S42.015S 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.

What to review

Use the 7th character that matches the encounter being coded (initial, subsequent or sequela); one encounter takes one of them.

Guide: 7th characters: initial, subsequent, sequela Check these on a claim

Why it matters

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 / rule

ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a

Side by side

	S42.015APosterior displaced fracture of sternal end of left clavicle, initial encounter for closed fracture	S42.015SPosterior displaced fracture of sternal end of left clavicle, sequela
Billing status	Billable	Billable
Classification	S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88)	S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88)
Definition	Posterior displaced fracture of sternal end of left clavicle, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S42.015A).	Posterior displaced fracture of sternal end of left clavicle, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S42.015S).
7th character	The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S42	The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S42
Includes	injuries of axilla injuries of scapular region	injuries of axilla injuries of scapular region
Excludes1	traumatic amputation of shoulder and upper arm (S48.-)	traumatic amputation of shoulder and upper arm (S48.-)
Excludes2	periprosthetic fracture around internal prosthetic shoulder joint (M97.3) burns and corrosions (T20-T32) frostbite (T33-T34) injuries of elbow (S50-S59) insect bite or sting, venomous (T63.4)	periprosthetic fracture around internal prosthetic shoulder joint (M97.3) burns and corrosions (T20-T32) frostbite (T33-T34) injuries of elbow (S50-S59) insect bite or sting, venomous (T63.4)

Notes are the code’s own tabular entry, quoted as published. A note that names the other code is the one the verdict above rests on.

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Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). A coding-rule comparison, not billing advice: payer-specific edits and medical-necessity policy are outside its scope. All data sources