T81.537A vs T81.537S
T81.537A (Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following removal of catheter or packing, initial encounter) compared with T81.537S (Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following removal of catheter or packing, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. T81.537A and T81.537S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.
Can these codes be reported together?
Same injury, other encounter phase. T81.537A and T81.537S 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
| T81.537APerforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following removal of catheter or packing, initial encounter | T81.537SPerforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following removal of catheter or packing, 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 | Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following removal of catheter or packing, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T81.537A). | Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following removal of catheter or packing, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T81.537S). |
| 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