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S81.841 vs S81.849

S81.841 (Puncture wound with foreign body, right lower leg) compared with S81.849 (Puncture wound with foreign body, unspecified lower leg), from the official CMS tabular data. S81.841 and S81.849 code the same condition on opposite sides.

Relationship

Review

Laterality relationship

S81.841
Right
Puncture wound with foreign body, right lower leg
S81.849
Unspecified
Puncture wound 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. S81.841 and S81.849 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

S81.841Puncture wound with foreign body, right lower legS81.849Puncture wound with foreign body, unspecified lower leg
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: S81.841A, S81.841D, S81.841S

Non-billable header

Report instead: S81.849A, S81.849D, S81.849S

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)
DefinitionPuncture wound with foreign body, right lower leg is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S81.841).Puncture wound with foreign body, unspecified lower leg is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S81.849).
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