W20-W49 — Exposure to inanimate mechanical forces
ICD-10-CM codes W20-W49 cover exposure to inanimate mechanical forces, within external causes of morbidity. The block holds 728 codes across 26 categories, of which 510 are billable and 218 are header codes that cannot be submitted on a claim. 728 of them (100%) require a 7th character.
Excludes1 — never code together
These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.
The 7th character in W20-W49
A code in this block is not complete without its 7th character, and a missing one is a rejected claim rather than a denied one: the clearinghouse never passes it on. 728 of the 728 codes here take one.
- A
- initial encounter
- D
- subsequent encounter
- S
- sequela
What else to watch in W20-W49
- 66 codes are named in Medicare coverage policies. An LCD or NCD lists them as supporting medical necessity, or explicitly as not supporting it. Which applies depends on the MAC for your state.
Categories in W20-W49
- W20Struck by thrown, projected or falling object
- W21Striking against or struck by sports equipment
- W22Striking against or struck by other objects
- W23Caught, crushed, jammed or pinched in or between objects
- W24Contact with lifting and transmission devices, not elsewhere classified
- W25Contact with sharp glass
- W26Contact with other sharp objects
- W27Contact with nonpowered hand tool
- W28Contact with powered lawn mower
- W29Contact with other powered hand tools and household machinery
- W30Contact with agricultural machinery
- W31Contact with other and unspecified machinery
- W32Accidental handgun discharge and malfunction
- W33Accidental rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge and malfunction
- W34Accidental discharge and malfunction from other and unspecified firearms and guns
- W35Explosion and rupture of boiler
- W36Explosion and rupture of gas cylinder
- W37Explosion and rupture of pressurized tire, pipe or hose
- W38Explosion and rupture of other specified pressurized devices
- W39Discharge of firework
- W40Explosion of other materials
- W42Exposure to noise
- W44Foreign body entering into or through a natural orifice
- W45Foreign body or object entering through skin
- W46Contact with hypodermic needle
- W49Exposure to other inanimate mechanical forces