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Pediatric Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Identify Hair Tourniquet With New E Code

Published on Thu Oct 23, 2003

Question: A mother gave birth to a neonate who had a hair wrapped around his finger. Which ICD9 Code should I use for the pediatrician's removal of the hair?

California Subscriber Answer: You should report 915.8 (Superficial injury of fingers[s]; other and unspecified superficial injury of fingers without mention of infection) and E928.4 (Other and unspecified environmental and accidental causes; external constriction caused by hair). To find the injury code, look under "Syndrome - hair tourniquet" in the ICD-9 tabular index. The listings direct you to the specific superficial site injury code. For a noninfected finger, you should use 915.8. CPT 2004 also adds E928.4 to identify the injury's external cause, hair tourniquet.
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