Alphabetic Index FY2027

T79.A

Traumatic compartment syndrome

FY2027Chapter 19: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes/T79 Certain early complications of trauma

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

T79.A is a non-billable ICD-10-CM code header for traumatic compartment syndrome. 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 T79.A0 Compartment syndrome, unspecified; T79.A1 Traumatic compartment syndrome of upper extremity; T79.A2 Traumatic compartment syndrome of lower extremity; T79.A3 Traumatic compartment syndrome of abdomen and 1 more. Its coding notes include a Use additional code instruction, 2 Excludes1 entries and 7 Excludes2 entries.

7th characters

Every code below needs one of these (defined at T79).

The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T79

  • Ainitial encounter
  • Dsubsequent encounter
  • Ssequela

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 (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.-)

Excludes1

Not coded here. The listed conditions generally should not be reported together.

This code
  • fibromyalgia (M79.7)
  • nontraumatic compartment syndrome (M79.A-)

Excludes2

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

This code
  • traumatic ischemic infarction of muscle (T79.6)
Inherited from T79 Certain early complications of trauma, not elsewhere classified
  • acute respiratory distress syndrome (J80)
  • complications occurring during or following medical procedures (T80-T88)
  • complications of surgical and medical care NEC (T80-T88)
  • newborn respiratory distress syndrome (P22.0)
Also from chapter/block level (2 notes)
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 T79.A 5