S80.251 (Superficial foreign body, right knee) compared with S80.259 (Superficial foreign body, unspecified knee), from the official CMS tabular data. S80.251 and S80.259 code the same condition on opposite sides.
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. S80.251 and S80.259 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.
| S80.251Superficial foreign body, right knee | S80.259Superficial foreign body, unspecified knee | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Superficial foreign body, right knee is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S80.251). | Superficial foreign body, unspecified knee is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S80.259). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S80 | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S80 |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources