Z48.02

Z48.02: Encounter for removal of sutures

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CMPOA exempt

Z48.02 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for encounter for removal of sutures. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Check Z48.02 with the rest of the claim: free scrubber

Inclusion terms

Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.

Encounter for removal of staples

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above Z48.02

A category’s note binds every code beneath it.

Written on Z48.0: Encounter for attention to dressings, sutures and drains

encounter for planned postprocedural wound closure (Z48.1)

Written on Z48: Encounter for other postprocedural aftercare

encounter for follow-up examination after completed treatment (Z08-Z09)
encounter for aftercare following injury - code to Injury, by site, with appropriate 7th character for subsequent encounter

Excludes2 inherited from the categories above Z48.02

Not part of this code, but both may be coded when both are present.

Written on Z48: Encounter for other postprocedural aftercare

encounter for attention to artificial openings (Z43.-)
encounter for fitting and adjustment of prosthetic and other devices (Z44-Z46)

Risk adjustment

No CMS-HCC V28 category: this code does not change a RAF score.

Alphabetic index entries that lead here

Attention›sutures
Removal›staples
Removal›suture
Suture›removal
Admission›removal of›staples
Admission›removal of›sutures
Aftercare›following surgery›attention to›sutures
Aftercare›involving›removal of›staples
Aftercare›involving›removal of›sutures

Code history

Unchanged in every release from FY2024 to FY2027.

Other codes under Z48.0