S21.21
Laceration without foreign body of back wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavity
Not billable — category only FY2026 2025-10-01 → 2026-09-30
Exclusions 14 never code together
S20-S29block
Excludes2
- burns and corrosions (T20-T32)T20-T32
- effects of foreign body in bronchus (T17.5)T17.5
- effects of foreign body in esophagus (T18.1)T18.1
- effects of foreign body in lung (T17.8)T17.8
- effects of foreign body in trachea (T17.4)T17.4
- frostbite (T33-T34)T33-T34
- injuries of axilla
- injuries of clavicle
- injuries of scapular region
- injuries of shoulder
- insect bite or sting, venomous (T63.4)T63.4
Excludes1 — never code together. The excluded condition and this one are mutually exclusive.
Excludes2 — not included here, but the patient may have both. Code both when documented.
7th character 3
A initial encounter
D subsequent encounter
S sequela
Instructional notes 15
S21code
Code also
- any associated injury, such as:
- injury of heart (S26.-)S26.-
- injury of intrathoracic organs (S27.-)S27.-
- rib fracture (S22.3-, S22.4-)S22.3-S22.4-
- spinal cord injury (S24.0-, S24.1-)S24.0-S24.1-
- traumatic hemopneumothorax (S27.3)S27.3
- traumatic hemothorax (S27.1)S27.1
- traumatic pneumothorax (S27.0)S27.0
- wound infection
S20-S29block
Includes
- injuries of breast
- injuries of chest (wall)
- injuries of interscapular area
S00-T88chapter
Notes
- 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.
Use additional code
- code to identify any retained foreign body, if applicable (Z18.-)Z18.-
Alongside this code 5 same parent — S21.2
S21.20 Unsp opn wnd back wall of thorax w/o penet thoracic cavity category S21.22 Lac w fb of back wall of thorax w/o penet thoracic cavity category S21.23 Pnctr w/o fb of bk wl of thorax w/o penet thoracic cavity category S21.24 Pnctr w fb of back wall of thorax w/o penet thoracic cavity category S21.25 Open bite of back wall of thorax w/o penet thoracic cavity category
Subordinate codes 3
Additional references
AHA Coding Clinic® Licence required
Official coding advice for this code. Published by the American Hospital Association. Not included in this installation.