T81.538 — Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure
T81.538 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure. It cannot be billed on its own: choose one of the more specific child codes below. This code also requires a 7th character before it is complete.
This code requires a 7th character
The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T81
- A
- initial encounter
- D
- subsequent encounter
- S
- sequela
Risk adjustment
T81.538 does not map to an HCC and does not risk-adjust under CMS-HCC V28. That is normal — most ICD-10 codes do not. It still needs to be coded correctly; it just will not move a RAF score.
How T81.538 is indexed
Coders do not find codes by browsing the tabular list — they look them up in the alphabetic index, under the word the physician wrote. These are the index entries that lead here, so you can see which chart wordings map to T81.538.
- Foreign body›accidentally left following a procedure›specified procedure NEC›resulting in›perforation
Code to one of these instead T81.538
3 child codes. Green means billable.
- T81.538APerforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure, initial encounter
- T81.538DPerforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure, subsequent encounter
- T81.538SPerforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following other procedure, sequela
Related codes at this level
Codes that share T81.53. If T81.538 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
- T81.530Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following surgical operation
- T81.531Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following infusion or transfusion
- T81.532Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following kidney dialysis
- T81.533Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following injection or immunization
- T81.534Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following endoscopic examination
- T81.535Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following heart catheterization
- T81.536Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following aspiration, puncture or other catheterization
- T81.537Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following removal of catheter or packing
- T81.539Perforation due to foreign body accidentally left in body following unspecified procedure
Questions about T81.538
- Is T81.538 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- No. T81.538 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
- Where does T81.538 sit in the tabular list?
- Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88), in the block Complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified (T80-T88).