S51.842 (Puncture wound with foreign body of left forearm) compared with S51.849 (Puncture wound with foreign body of unspecified forearm), from the official CMS tabular data. S51.842 and S51.849 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. S51.842 and S51.849 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.
| S51.842Puncture wound with foreign body of left forearm | S51.849Puncture wound with foreign body of unspecified forearm | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Non-billable header | Non-billable header |
| 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 | Puncture wound with foreign body of left forearm is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S51.842). | Puncture wound with foreign body of unspecified forearm is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S51.849). |
| 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