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Compare/W32 vs W33.01

W32 vs W33.01

W32 (Accidental handgun discharge and malfunction) compared with W33.01 (Accidental discharge of shotgun), 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. W32 carries an Excludes1 note covering W33.01: “accidental shotgun discharge and malfunction (W33.01, W33.11)”

Sole exception: when the two conditions are documented as unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).

No — do not report together. W33.01 carries an Excludes1 note covering W32: “accidental handgun discharge and malfunction (W32.-)”

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

W32Accidental handgun discharge and malfunctionW33.01Accidental discharge of shotgun
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: W32.0XXA, W32.0XXD, W32.0XXS, W32.1XXA, W32.1XXD

Non-billable header

Report instead: W33.01XA, W33.01XD, W33.01XS

ClassificationV00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)V00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)
DefinitionAccidental handgun discharge and malfunction is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (W32).Accidental discharge of shotgun is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (W33.01).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W32The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W33
Includes
accidental discharge and malfunction of gun for single hand use
accidental discharge and malfunction of pistol
accidental discharge and malfunction of revolver
Handgun discharge and malfunction NOS
rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge and malfunction NOS
Discharge of shotgun NOS

Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources