T81.516A vs T81.516S

T81.516A (Adhesions due to foreign body accidentally left in body following aspiration, puncture or other catheterization, initial encounter) compared with T81.516S (Adhesions due to foreign body accidentally left in body following aspiration, puncture or other catheterization, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. T81.516A and T81.516S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.

Relationship

Review

Encounter relationship

T81.516A

Initial encounter

Adhesions due to foreign body accidentally left in body following aspiration, puncture or other catheterization, initial encounter

↔

T81.516S

Sequela

Adhesions due to foreign body accidentally left in body following aspiration, puncture or other catheterization, sequela

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

Can these codes be reported together?

Same injury, other encounter phase. T81.516A and T81.516S 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.

Side by side

	T81.516AAdhesions due to foreign body accidentally left in body following aspiration, puncture or other catheterization, initial encounter	T81.516SAdhesions due to foreign body accidentally left in body following aspiration, puncture or other catheterization, sequela
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	Adhesions due to foreign body accidentally left in body following aspiration, puncture or other catheterization, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T81.516A).	Adhesions due to foreign body accidentally left in body following aspiration, puncture or other catheterization, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T81.516S).
7th character	The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T81	The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T81
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)	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)

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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