T26.02XA (Burn of left eyelid and periocular area, initial encounter) compared with T26.02XS (Burn of left eyelid and periocular area, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. T26.02XA and T26.02XS code the same injury at a different phase of treatment. MedCoder-derived
Same underlying diagnosis, different encounter phase.
The 7th character records the phase of care for the encounter being coded, so a single encounter takes one of these characters, not several. Review whether both phases belong on the same episode of care.
Source: ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a
Same injury, other encounter phase. T26.02XA and T26.02XS code the same injury at a different phase of treatment, set by the 7th character.
The 7th character records the type of care given at the encounter being coded (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a), so one encounter takes one of these, not both.
| T26.02XABurn of left eyelid and periocular area, initial encounter | T26.02XSBurn of left eyelid and periocular area, sequela | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Billable | Billable |
| Classification | S00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes | S00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes |
| Definition | Burn of left eyelid and periocular area, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T26.02A). | Burn of left eyelid and periocular area, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T26.02S). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T26 | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T26 |
| Use additional code | external cause code to identify the source, place and intent of the burn (X00-X19, X75-X77, X96-X98, Y92) | external cause code to identify the source, place and intent of the burn (X00-X19, X75-X77, X96-X98, Y92) |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources