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S51.851 vs S51.859

S51.851 (Open bite of right forearm) compared with S51.859 (Open bite of unspecified forearm), from the official CMS tabular data. S51.851 and S51.859 code the same condition on opposite sides.

Relationship

Review

Laterality relationship

S51.851
Right
Open bite of right forearm
S51.859
Unspecified
Open bite 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. S51.851 and S51.859 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

S51.851Open bite of right forearmS51.859Open bite of unspecified forearm
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: S51.851A, S51.851D, S51.851S

Non-billable header

Report instead: S51.859A, S51.859D, S51.859S

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)
DefinitionOpen bite of right forearm is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S51.851).Open bite of unspecified forearm is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S51.859).
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