S82.251A vs S82.253A

S82.251A (Displaced comminuted fracture of shaft of right tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture) compared with S82.253A (Displaced comminuted fracture of shaft of unspecified tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture), from the official CMS tabular data. S82.251A and S82.253A code the same condition on opposite sides.

Relationship

Review

Laterality relationship

S82.251A

Right

Displaced comminuted fracture of shaft of right tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture

↔

S82.253A

Unspecified

Displaced comminuted fracture of shaft of unspecified tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture

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. S82.251A and S82.253A 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

	S82.251ADisplaced comminuted fracture of shaft of right tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture	S82.253ADisplaced comminuted fracture of shaft of unspecified tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture
Billing status	Billable	Billable
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	Displaced comminuted fracture of shaft of right tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S82.251A).	Displaced comminuted fracture of shaft of unspecified tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S82.253A).
7th character	The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S82	The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S82
Includes	fracture of malleolus	fracture of malleolus

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