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Compare/Y36.3 vs Y36.53

Y36.3 vs Y36.53

Y36.3 (War operations involving fires, conflagrations and hot substances) compared with Y36.53 (War operations involving thermal radiation effect of nuclear weapon), 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. Y36.3 carries an Excludes1 note covering Y36.53: “war operations involving fires and thermal effects of nuclear weapons (Y36.53-)”

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

Y36.3War operations involving fires, conflagrations and hot substancesY36.53War operations involving thermal radiation effect of nuclear weapon
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: Y36.300A, Y36.300D, Y36.300S, Y36.301A, Y36.301D

Non-billable header

Report instead: Y36.530A, Y36.530D, Y36.530S, Y36.531A, Y36.531D

ClassificationV00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)V00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)
DefinitionWar operations involving fires, conflagrations and hot substances is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (Y36.3).War operations involving thermal radiation effect of nuclear weapon is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (Y36.53).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category Y36The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category Y36
Includes
injuries to military personnel and civilians caused by war, civil insurrection, and peacekeeping missions
War operations involving smoke, fumes, and heat from fires, conflagrations and hot substances
injuries to military personnel and civilians caused by war, civil insurrection, and peacekeeping missions
War operations involving direct heat from nuclear weapon
War operation involving fireball effects from nuclear weapon

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