S54.11XA (Injury of median nerve at forearm level, right arm, initial encounter) compared with S54.11XS (Injury of median nerve at forearm level, right arm, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. S54.11XA and S54.11XS code the same injury at a different phase of treatment. MedCoder-derived
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
Same injury, other encounter phase. S54.11XA and S54.11XS 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.
| S54.11XAInjury of median nerve at forearm level, right arm, initial encounter | S54.11XSInjury of median nerve at forearm level, right arm, sequela | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Injury of median nerve at forearm level, right arm, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S54.11A). | Injury of median nerve at forearm level, right arm, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S54.11S). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S54 | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S54 |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources