W27.3 vs W46
W27.3 (Contact with needle (sewing)) compared with W46 (Contact with hypodermic needle), from the official CMS tabular data. Do not report these codes together: the official tabular list marks them Excludes1.
Can these codes be reported together?
No — do not report together. W27.3 carries an Excludes1 note covering W46: “contact with hypodermic needle (W46.-)”
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
| W27.3Contact with needle (sewing) | W46Contact with hypodermic needle | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Non-billable header | Non-billable header Report instead: W46.0XXA, W46.0XXD, W46.0XXS, W46.1XXA, W46.1XXD |
| Classification | V00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99) | V00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99) |
| Definition | Contact with needle (sewing) is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (W27.3). | Contact with hypodermic needle is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (W46). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W27 | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W46 |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources