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S70.251 vs S70.252

S70.251 (Superficial foreign body, right hip) compared with S70.252 (Superficial foreign body, left hip), from the official CMS tabular data. S70.251 and S70.252 code the same condition on opposite sides. MedCoder-derived

Relationship

Review

Laterality relationship

S70.251
Right
Superficial foreign body, right hip
S70.252
Left
Superficial foreign body, left hip

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. S70.251 and S70.252 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

S70.251Superficial foreign body, right hipS70.252Superficial foreign body, left hip
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: S70.251A, S70.251D, S70.251S

Non-billable header

Report instead: S70.252A, S70.252D, S70.252S

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)
DefinitionSuperficial foreign body, right hip is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S70.251).Superficial foreign body, left hip is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S70.252).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S70The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S70

Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources