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W16.91XD vs W94

W16.91XD (Jumping or diving into unspecified water causing drowning and submersion, subsequent encounter) compared with W94 (Exposure to high and low air pressure and changes in air pressure), from the official CMS tabular data. Do not report these codes together: the official tabular list marks them Excludes1.

Relationship

Conflict

Excludes1 conflict

W16.91XD
Jumping or diving into unspecified water causing drowning and submersion, subsequent encounter
↔
W94
Exposure to high and low air pressure and changes in air pressure

Not coded here — these two are mutually exclusive.

“effects of air pressure from diving (W94.-)”

An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur together, so the pair should not be reported for the same encounter. The sole exception is when the conditions are documented as unrelated to each other.

Source: CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes; ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a

Can these codes be reported together?

No — do not report together. W16.91XD carries an Excludes1 note covering W94: “effects of air pressure from diving (W94.-)”

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

W16.91XDJumping or diving into unspecified water causing drowning and submersion, subsequent encounterW94Exposure to high and low air pressure and changes in air pressure
Billing statusBillableNon-billable header

Report instead: W94.0XXA, W94.0XXD, W94.0XXS, W94.11XA, W94.11XD

ClassificationV00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)V00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)
DefinitionJumping or diving into unspecified water causing drowning and submersion, subsequent encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (W16.91D).Exposure to high and low air pressure and changes in air pressure is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (W94).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W16The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W94
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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