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W18.39XD vs W31

W18.39XD (Other fall on same level, subsequent encounter) compared with W31 (Contact with other and unspecified machinery), from the official CMS tabular data. Do not report these codes together: the official tabular list marks them Excludes1.

Relationship

Conflict

Excludes1 conflict

W18.39XD
Other fall on same level, subsequent encounter
↔
W31
Contact with other and unspecified machinery

Not coded here — these two are mutually exclusive.

“fall (in) (from) machinery (in operation) (W28-W31)”

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. W18.39XD carries an Excludes1 note covering W31: “fall (in) (from) machinery (in operation) (W28-W31)”

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

W18.39XDOther fall on same level, subsequent encounterW31Contact with other and unspecified machinery
Billing statusBillableNon-billable header

Report instead: W31.0XXA, W31.0XXD, W31.0XXS, W31.1XXA, W31.1XXD

ClassificationV00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)V00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)
DefinitionOther fall on same level, subsequent encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (W18.39D).Contact with other and unspecified machinery is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (W31).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W18The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W31
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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