G24.3 vs S13.4
G24.3 and S13.4 can never be reported together. ICD-10-CM declares them mutually exclusive with an Excludes1 note, meaning the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient — so exactly one of them is correct for any given encounter.
The official note, declared on G24.3
traumatic recurrent torticollis (S13.4)
G24.3
Spasmodic torticollis
Billable
- Chapter 6
- Diseases of the nervous system
- Section
- G20-G26
Indexed under
- Dystonia › cervical
- Torticollis › spasmodic (intermittent) (spastic)
S13.4
Sprain of ligaments of cervical spine
Not billable
- Chapter 19
- Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
- Section
- S10-S19
Use when the record says
- Sprain of anterior longitudinal (ligament), cervical
- Sprain of atlanto-axial (joints)
- Sprain of atlanto-occipital (joints)
- Whiplash injury of cervical spine
Indexed under
- Whiplash injury
- Injury › whiplash
- Sprain › anterior longitudinal, cervical (joint) (ligament)
- Sprain › atlas, atlanto-axial, atlanto-occipital (joint) (ligament)
- Sprain › cervical, cervicodorsal, cervicothoracic (joint) (ligament)
These two codes sit in different chapters of the Tabular List, which is usually the clearest signal that they describe different underlying processes rather than different degrees of the same one.
Excludes1 is not always absolute: where two conditions covered by the note are genuinely unrelated, CMS guidance permits reporting both. Document the reasoning rather than assuming it. More on Excludes1 vs Excludes2 · FY2027