T81.5 vs Z18
T81.5 (Complications of foreign body accidentally left in body following procedure) compared with Z18 (Retained foreign body fragments), from the official CMS tabular data. Do not report these codes together: the official tabular list marks them Excludes1.
Can these codes be reported together?
No — do not report together. Z18 carries an Excludes1 note covering T81.5: “foreign body accidentally left during a procedure (T81.5-)”
Sole exception: when the two conditions are documented as unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).
Side by side
| T81.5Complications of foreign body accidentally left in body following procedure | Z18Retained foreign body fragments | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Non-billable header Report instead: T81.500A, T81.500D, T81.500S, T81.501A, T81.501D | Non-billable header |
| Classification | S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88) | Z00-Z99 — Factors Influencing Health Status and Contact with Health Services (Z00-Z99) |
| Definition | Complications of foreign body accidentally left in body following procedure is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (T81.5). | Retained foreign body fragments is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (Z18). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T81 | — |
| Includes | — | embedded fragment (status) embedded splinter (status) retained foreign body status |
| Use additional code | code for adverse effect, if applicable, to identify drug (T36-T50 with fifth or sixth character 5) code(s) to identify the specified condition resulting from the complication code to identify devices involved and details of circumstances (Y62-Y82) | — |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources