T81.528A vs T81.528S
T81.528A (Obstruction due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure, initial encounter) compared with T81.528S (Obstruction due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. T81.528A and T81.528S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.
Can these codes be reported together?
Same injury, other encounter phase. T81.528A and T81.528S 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
| T81.528AObstruction due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure, initial encounter | T81.528SObstruction due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure, 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 | Obstruction due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T81.528A). | Obstruction due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T81.528S). |
| 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) |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources