Alphabetic Index FY2027

T16.9XXA

Foreign body in ear, unspecified ear, initial encounter

FY2027Chapter 19: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes/T15–T19 Effects of foreign body entering through natural orifice

BillableComplete code, valid to report

T16.9XXA (also written T169XXA) is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for foreign body in ear, unspecified ear, initial encounter. It is part of the FY2027 code set, effective October 1, 2026. It is one of the 9 codes in category T16 (Foreign body in ear). Its 7th character, A, means initial encounter. Its coding notes include a Use additional code instruction and 6 Excludes2 entries.

7th character

Category T16 requires a 7th character. T16.9 has only 4 characters, so a placeholder X fills the empty positions.

Assembled code T16.9XXA Open code

Guidelines tip

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

Use additional code

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

Also from chapter/block level (2 notes)
Inherited from T15–T19 Effects of foreign body entering through natural orifice
  • code, if known, for foreign body entering into or through a natural orifice (W44.-)
Inherited from Chapter 19 Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
  • code to identify any retained foreign body, if applicable (Z18.-)

Excludes2

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

Also from chapter/block level (6 notes)
Inherited from T15–T19 Effects of foreign body entering through natural orifice
  • foreign body accidentally left in operation wound (T81.5-)
  • foreign body in penetrating wound - See open wound by body region
  • residual foreign body in soft tissue (M79.5)
  • splinter, without open wound - See superficial injury by body region
Inherited from Chapter 19 Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
  • birth trauma (P10-P15)
  • obstetric trauma (O70-O71)

Includes

Further defines or gives examples of the content of the category.

Inherited from T16 Foreign body in ear
  • foreign body in auditory canal

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.