S51.822A (Laceration with foreign body of left forearm, initial encounter) compared with S51.829A (Laceration with foreign body of unspecified forearm, initial encounter), from the official CMS tabular data. S51.822A and S51.829A code the same condition on opposite sides. MedCoder-derived
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)
Same condition, opposite side. S51.822A and S51.829A 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.
| S51.822ALaceration with foreign body of left forearm, initial encounter | S51.829ALaceration with foreign body of unspecified forearm, initial encounter | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Laceration with foreign body of left forearm, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S51.822A). | Laceration with foreign body of unspecified forearm, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S51.829A). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S51 | The 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