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S82.851J vs S82.852J

S82.851J (Displaced trimalleolar fracture of right lower leg, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with delayed healing) compared with S82.852J (Displaced trimalleolar fracture of left lower leg, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with delayed healing), from the official CMS tabular data. S82.851J and S82.852J code the same condition on opposite sides. MedCoder-derived

Can these codes be reported together?

Review

Laterality relationship

S82.851J
Right
Displaced trimalleolar fracture of right lower leg, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with delayed healing
↔
S82.852J
Left
Displaced trimalleolar fracture of left lower leg, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with delayed healing

What we found

Same condition, opposite side.S82.851J and S82.852J 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.

What to review

Report the side the documentation names. Where the code set provides a bilateral code and both sides are documented, use it instead of the pair.

Guide: Laterality codingCheck these on a claim

Why it matters

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 / rule

ICD-10-CM tabular list (laterality variant derived from the code title)

Side by side

S82.851JDisplaced trimalleolar fracture of right lower leg, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with delayed healingS82.852JDisplaced trimalleolar fracture of left lower leg, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with delayed healing
Billing statusBillableBillable
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)
DefinitionDisplaced trimalleolar fracture of right lower leg, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with delayed healing is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S82.851J).Displaced trimalleolar fracture of left lower leg, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with delayed healing is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S82.852J).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S82The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S82
Includes
fracture of malleolus
fracture of malleolus
Excludes1
traumatic amputation of lower leg (S88.-)
traumatic amputation of lower leg (S88.-)
Excludes2
fracture of foot, except ankle (S92.-)
periprosthetic fracture around internal prosthetic ankle joint (M97.2)
periprosthetic fracture around internal prosthetic implant of knee joint (M97.1-)
burns and corrosions (T20-T32)
frostbite (T33-T34)
injuries of ankle and foot, except fracture of ankle and malleolus (S90-S99)
insect bite or sting, venomous (T63.4)
fracture of foot, except ankle (S92.-)
periprosthetic fracture around internal prosthetic ankle joint (M97.2)
periprosthetic fracture around internal prosthetic implant of knee joint (M97.1-)
burns and corrosions (T20-T32)
frostbite (T33-T34)
injuries of ankle and foot, except fracture of ankle and malleolus (S90-S99)
insect bite or sting, venomous (T63.4)

Notes are the code’s own tabular entry, quoted as published. A note that names the other code is the one the verdict above rests on.

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Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). A coding-rule comparison, not billing advice: payer-specific edits and medical-necessity policy are outside its scope. All data sources