Other specified injury of middle and inner ear

Not billableICD-10-CM diagnosis code.

This code exists but cannot be submitted on its own. It groups the more specific codes beneath it.

A category header for its whole life, FY2016 onwards. It has never been valid for submission on its own.

Submit one of these 3 more specific codes instead:

S09.391 Other specified injury of right middle and inner ear (also a header)
S09.392 Other specified injury of left middle and inner ear (also a header)
S09.399 Other specified injury of unspecified middle and inner ear (also a header)

This code requires a seventh character. See the rule below.

What has happened to this code

Every change the publisher made, from 2012 to now. Entries marked draft are from the pre-implementation releases: ICD-10 took effect on 1 October 2015, so nothing before FY2016 was ever valid on a claim.

FY2012 Added to the draft code set draft Other specified injury of middle and inner ear

Official coding rules

Published by CDC for FY2027. A rule attached to a category binds every code beneath it, so the rules inherited from this code's ancestors are shown with the code they come from.

Inherited from S09 Other and unspecified injuries of head

Seventh character required

The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S09

Inherited from the S00-S09 section Injuries to the head (S00-S09)

Excludes2 - not included here

burns and corrosions (T20-T32)
effects of foreign body in ear (T16)
effects of foreign body in larynx (T17.3)
effects of foreign body in mouth NOS (T18.0)
effects of foreign body in nose (T17.0-T17.1)
effects of foreign body in pharynx (T17.2)
effects of foreign body on external eye (T15.-)
frostbite (T33-T34)
insect bite or sting, venomous (T63.4)

Code also

for any associated infection

Includes

injuries of ear
injuries of eye
injuries of face [any part]
injuries of gum
injuries of jaw
injuries of oral cavity
injuries of palate
injuries of periocular area
injuries of scalp
injuries of temporomandibular joint area
injuries of tongue
injuries of tooth

How CDC's index refers to this code

Wording from the official alphabetic index. Much of it appears nowhere in the code description, which is why a search for the everyday phrase so often finds nothing.

Injury > blast NEC > brain
Injury > ear > middle > blast
Concussion > blast > abdomen or thorax
Rupture, ruptured > traumatic > membrana tympani
Rupture, ruptured > traumatic > tympanum, tympanic
Rupture, ruptured > tympanum, tympanic > traumatic
Rupture, ruptured > ear drum > traumatic > due to blast injury
Injury > blast NEC > ear > secondary
Injury > ear > middle > specified NEC

Codes in the same group

Code	Description	Status
S09.30	Unspecified injury of middle and inner ear	Not billable
S09.31	Primary blast injury of ear	Not billable