Unspecified fracture of head of left femur

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 16 more specific codes instead:

S72.052A Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, initial encounter for closed fracture
S72.052B Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, initial encounter for open fracture type I or II
S72.052C Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, initial encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC
S72.052D Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for closed fracture with routine healing
S72.052E Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for open fracture type I or II with routine healing
S72.052F Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with routine healing
S72.052G Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for closed fracture with delayed healing
S72.052H Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for open fracture type I or II with delayed healing
S72.052J Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with delayed healing
S72.052K Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for closed fracture with nonunion
S72.052M Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for open fracture type I or II with nonunion
S72.052N Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with nonunion
S72.052P Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for closed fracture with malunion
S72.052Q Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for open fracture type I or II with malunion
S72.052R Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, subsequent encounter for open fracture type IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC with malunion
S72.052S Unspecified fracture of head of left femur, sequela

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

What has happened to this code

Every change the publisher made, from 2014 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.

FY2014 Added to the draft code set draft Unspecified fracture of head of left femur

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 S72 Fracture of femur

Seventh character required

The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S72

Seventh character values

initial encounter for open fracture NOS

Excludes1 - never coded here

traumatic amputation of hip and thigh (S78.-)

Excludes2 - not included here

fracture of lower leg and ankle (S82.-)
fracture of foot (S92.-)
periprosthetic fracture of prosthetic implant of hip (M97.0-)

Note

A fracture not indicated as displaced or nondisplaced should be coded to displaced
A fracture not indicated as open or closed should be coded to closed
The open fracture designations are based on the Gustilo open fracture classification

Inherited from the S70-S79 section Injuries to the hip and thigh (S70-S79)

Excludes2 - not included here

burns and corrosions (T20-T32)
frostbite (T33-T34)
snake bite (T63.0-)
venomous insect bite or sting (T63.4-)

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.

Fracture, traumatic > femur, femoral > head
Fracture, traumatic > femur, femoral > upper end > head

Codes in the same group

Code	Description	Status
S72.051	Unspecified fracture of head of right femur	Not billable
S72.059	Unspecified fracture of head of unspecified femur	Not billable