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S51.041 vs S51.042

S51.041 (Puncture wound with foreign body of right elbow) compared with S51.042 (Puncture wound with foreign body of left elbow), from the official CMS tabular data. S51.041 and S51.042 code the same condition on opposite sides.

Relationship

Review

Laterality relationship

S51.041
Right
Puncture wound with foreign body of right elbow
S51.042
Left
Puncture wound with foreign body of left elbow

Same condition; these differ only in which side is documented.

These codes share a category and title and differ only in the side affected. The documentation decides which applies, and a bilateral code is reported only where the code set provides one.

Source: ICD-10-CM tabular list (laterality variant derived from the code title)

Can these codes be reported together?

Same condition, opposite side. S51.041 and S51.042 name the same condition on opposite sides of the body.

Same category and title, differing only in which side is affected — the documentation decides which one applies, and a bilateral code is reported only where the code set provides one.

Side by side

S51.041Puncture wound with foreign body of right elbowS51.042Puncture wound with foreign body of left elbow
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: S51.041A, S51.041D, S51.041S

Non-billable header

Report instead: S51.042A, S51.042D, S51.042S

ClassificationS00-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)
DefinitionPuncture wound with foreign body of right elbow is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S51.041).Puncture wound with foreign body of left elbow is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S51.042).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S51The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S51

Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources