ICD-10-CM › Z00-Z99 › Z18 › Z codes › Z18

Z18

Retained foreign body fragments

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 6 more specific codes instead:

  • Z18.0 Retained radioactive fragments (also a header)
  • Z18.1 Retained metal fragments (also a header)
  • Z18.2 Retained plastic fragments
  • Z18.3 Retained organic fragments (also a header)
  • Z18.8 Other specified retained foreign body (also a header)
  • Z18.9 Retained foreign body fragments, unspecified material

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.

  1. FY2012 Added to the draft code set draft Retained foreign body fragments

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.

This code

Excludes1 - never coded here

  • artificial joint prosthesis status (Z96.6-)
  • foreign body accidentally left during a procedure (T81.5-)
  • foreign body entering through orifice (T15-T19)
  • in situ cardiac device (Z95.-)
  • organ or tissue replaced by means other than transplant (Z96.-, Z97.-)
  • organ or tissue replaced by transplant (Z94.-)
  • personal history of retained foreign body fully removed Z87.821
  • superficial foreign body (non-embedded splinter) - code to superficial foreign body, by site

Includes

  • embedded fragment (status)
  • embedded splinter (status)
  • retained foreign body status