T88

Other complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified

FY2027Chapter 19: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes/T80–T88 Complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified

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

7th character required
Use additional code
Excludes2

T88 is a non-billable ICD-10-CM code category for other complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified. 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 T88.0 Infection following immunization; T88.1 Other complications following immunization, not elsewhere classified; T88.2 Shock due to anesthesia; T88.3 Malignant hyperthermia due to anesthesia and 6 more. Its coding notes include a Use additional code instruction and 33 Excludes2 entries.

7th characters

Every code below needs one of these.

The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T88

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

A complication code needs the provider's documented cause-and-effect link between the care and the condition. Some T codes already include the type of procedure, so no external cause code is needed.

Guidelines I.B.16; I.C.19.g.4Complications of careRead the official text

Use additional code

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

Also from chapter/block level (4 notes)

Inherited from T80–T88 Complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified

code for adverse effect, if applicable, to identify drug (T36-T50 with fifth or sixth character 5)
code(s) to identify the specified condition resulting from the complication
code to identify devices involved and details of circumstances (Y62-Y82)

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.

This code

complication following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injection (T80.-)
complication following procedure NEC (T81.-)
complications of anesthesia in labor and delivery (O74.-)
complications of anesthesia in pregnancy (O29.-)
complications of anesthesia in puerperium (O89.-)
complications of devices, implants and grafts (T82-T85)
complications of obstetric surgery and procedure (O75.4)
dermatitis due to drugs and medicaments (L23.3, L24.4, L25.1, L27.0-L27.1)
poisoning and toxic effects of drugs and chemicals (T36-T65 with fifth or sixth character 1-4)
specified complications classified elsewhere

Also from chapter/block level (23 notes)

Inherited from T80–T88 Complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified

any encounters with medical care for postprocedural conditions in which no complications are present, such as:
- artificial opening status (Z93.-)
- closure of external stoma (Z43.-)
- fitting and adjustment of external prosthetic device (Z44.-)
- burns and corrosions from local applications and irradiation (T20-T32)
- complications of surgical procedures during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A)
- mechanical complication of respirator [ventilator] (J95.850)
- poisoning and toxic effects of drugs and chemicals (T36-T65 with fifth or sixth character 1-4 or 6)
- postprocedural fever (R50.82)
specified complications classified elsewhere, such as:
- cerebrospinal fluid leak from spinal puncture (G97.0)
- colostomy malfunction (K94.0-)
- disorders of fluid and electrolyte imbalance (E86-E87)
- functional disturbances following cardiac surgery (I97.0-I97.1)
- intraoperative and postprocedural complications of specified body systems (D78.-, E36.-, E89.-, G97.3-, G97.4, H59.3-, H59.-, H95.2-, H95.3, I97.4-, I97.5, J95.6-, J95.7, K91.6-, L76.-, M96.-, N99.-)
- ostomy complications (J95.0-, K94.-, N99.5-)
- postgastric surgery syndromes (K91.1)
- postlaminectomy syndrome NEC (M96.1)
- postmastectomy lymphedema syndrome (I97.2)
- postsurgical blind-loop syndrome (K91.2)
- ventilator associated pneumonia (J95.851)

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 T88 10