Alphabetic Index FY2027

S56

Injury of muscle, fascia and tendon at forearm level

FY2027Chapter 19: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes/S50–S59 Injuries to the elbow and forearm

Non-billable headerNot valid on its own. Use one of the more specific codes under it.

S56 is a non-billable ICD-10-CM code category for injury of muscle, fascia and tendon at forearm level. Report a more specific code from it instead. It is part of the FY2027 code set, effective October 1, 2026. The more specific codes under it are S56.0 Injury of flexor muscle, fascia and tendon of thumb at forearm level; S56.1 Injury of flexor muscle, fascia and tendon of other and unspecified finger at forearm level; S56.2 Injury of other flexor muscle, fascia and tendon at forearm level; S56.3 Injury of extensor or abductor muscles, fascia and tendons of thumb at forearm level and 4 more. Its coding notes include a Use additional code instruction, a Code also instruction and 8 Excludes2 entries.

7th characters

Every code below needs one of these.

The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S56

  • Ainitial encounter
  • Dsubsequent encounter
  • Ssequela

Guidelines tips

From the FY2027 Official Guidelines. ICD10Ref adds no rules of its own.

The 7th character depends on whether the patient is in active treatment, not on who sees the patient. An aftercare Z code is not used for injury aftercare.

Guidelines I.C.19.aInjuries: application of 7th charactersRead the official text

Each injury gets its own code unless a combination code exists, with the most serious injury first. Superficial injuries at the same site as a more severe injury are not coded. Injuries during medical care are coded as complications.

Guidelines I.C.19.bCoding of injuriesRead the official text

Use additional code

Add the listed code as a secondary code, if known.

Also from chapter/block level (1 note)
Inherited from Chapter 19 Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
  • code to identify any retained foreign body, if applicable (Z18.-)

Code also

Two codes may be needed to describe the condition. This note gives no sequencing order.

This code
  • any associated open wound (S51.-)

Excludes2

Not included here. Both codes may be reported if the patient has both conditions.

This code
  • injury of muscle, fascia and tendon at or below wrist (S66.-)
  • sprain of joints and ligaments of elbow (S53.4-)
Also from chapter/block level (6 notes)
Inherited from S50–S59 Injuries to the elbow and forearm
Inherited from Chapter 19 Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
  • birth trauma (P10-P15)
  • obstetric trauma (O70-O71)

Notes

Also from chapter/block level (2 notes)
Inherited from Chapter 19 Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
  • Use secondary code(s) from Chapter 20, External causes of morbidity, to indicate cause of injury. Codes within the T section that include the external cause do not require an additional external cause code
  • The chapter uses the S-section for coding different types of injuries related to single body regions and the T-section to cover injuries to unspecified body regions as well as poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes.

More specific codes under S56 8