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S51.812 vs S51.819

S51.812 (Laceration without foreign body of left forearm) compared with S51.819 (Laceration without foreign body of unspecified forearm), from the official CMS tabular data. S51.812 and S51.819 code the same condition on opposite sides. MedCoder-derived

Relationship

Review

Laterality relationship

S51.812
Left
Laceration without foreign body of left forearm
S51.819
Unspecified
Laceration without foreign body of unspecified forearm

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. S51.812 and S51.819 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

S51.812Laceration without foreign body of left forearmS51.819Laceration without foreign body of unspecified forearm
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: S51.812A, S51.812D, S51.812S

Non-billable header

Report instead: S51.819A, S51.819D, S51.819S

ClassificationS00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causesS00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
DefinitionLaceration without foreign body of left forearm is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S51.812).Laceration without foreign body of unspecified forearm is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S51.819).
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