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S52.201A vs S52.201B

S52.201A (Unspecified fracture of shaft of right ulna, initial encounter for closed fracture) compared with S52.201B (Unspecified fracture of shaft of right ulna, initial encounter for open fracture type I or II), from the official CMS tabular data. S52.201A and S52.201B code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.

Relationship

Review

Encounter relationship

S52.201A
Initial encounter
Unspecified fracture of shaft of right ulna, initial encounter for closed fracture
↔
S52.201B
Initial encounter
Unspecified fracture of shaft of right ulna, initial encounter for open fracture type I or II

Same underlying diagnosis, different encounter phase.

The 7th character records the phase of care for the encounter being coded, so a single encounter takes one of these characters, not several. Review whether both phases belong on the same episode of care.

Source: ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a

Can these codes be reported together?

Same injury, other encounter phase. S52.201A and S52.201B code the same injury at a different phase of treatment, set by the 7th character.

The 7th character records the type of care given at the encounter being coded (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a), so one encounter takes one of these, not both.

Side by side

S52.201AUnspecified fracture of shaft of right ulna, initial encounter for closed fractureS52.201BUnspecified fracture of shaft of right ulna, initial encounter for open fracture type I or II
Billing statusBillableBillable
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)
DefinitionUnspecified fracture of shaft of right ulna, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S52.201A).Unspecified fracture of shaft of right ulna, initial encounter for open fracture type I or II is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S52.201B).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S52The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S52
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Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources