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S81.821 vs S81.829

S81.821 (Laceration with foreign body, right lower leg) compared with S81.829 (Laceration with foreign body, unspecified lower leg), from the official CMS tabular data. S81.821 and S81.829 code the same condition on opposite sides. MedCoder-derived

Relationship

Review

Laterality relationship

S81.821
Right
Laceration with foreign body, right lower leg
S81.829
Unspecified
Laceration with foreign body, unspecified lower leg

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. S81.821 and S81.829 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

S81.821Laceration with foreign body, right lower legS81.829Laceration with foreign body, unspecified lower leg
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: S81.821A, S81.821D, S81.821S

Non-billable header

Report instead: S81.829A, S81.829D, S81.829S

ClassificationS00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causesS00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
DefinitionLaceration with foreign body, right lower leg is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S81.821).Laceration with foreign body, unspecified lower leg is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S81.829).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S81The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S81

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