ICD-10-CM › V00-Y99 › W20-W49 › W46 Contact with hypodermic needle › W46.0

W46.0

Contact with hypodermic needle

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:

  • W46.0XXA Contact with hypodermic needle, initial encounter
  • W46.0XXD Contact with hypodermic needle, subsequent encounter
  • W46.0XXS Contact with hypodermic needle, 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.

  1. FY2014 Added to the draft code set draft Contact with hypodermic needle

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 W46 Contact with hypodermic needle

Seventh character required

  • The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W46

Inherited from the W20-W49 section Exposure to inanimate mechanical forces (W20-W49)

Excludes1 - never coded here

  • assault (X92-Y09)
  • contact or collision with animals or persons (W50-W64)
  • exposure to inanimate mechanical forces involving military or war operations (Y36.-, Y37.-)
  • intentional self-harm (X71-X83)

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.

Codes in the same group

CodeDescriptionStatus
W46.1 Contact with contaminated hypodermic needle Not billable