S50.852A (Superficial foreign body of left forearm, initial encounter) compared with S50.852S (Superficial foreign body of left forearm, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. S50.852A and S50.852S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.
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. S50.852A and S50.852S 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.
| S50.852ASuperficial foreign body of left forearm, initial encounter | S50.852SSuperficial foreign body of left forearm, 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 forearm, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S50.852A). | Superficial foreign body of left forearm, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S50.852S). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S50 | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S50 |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources