FY2027
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Excludes1 pair

N17- vs T79.5-

N17 and T79.5 are not coded together. ICD-10-CM declares them mutually exclusive with an Excludes1 note — the two conditions are not expected to occur together, so exactly one of them is normally correct for a given encounter. The Official Guidelines carve out one exception: if the two conditions are clearly unrelated to each other, both may be reported.

The official note, declared on N17
posttraumatic renal failure (T79.5)
N17

Acute kidney failure

Not billable
Chapter 14
Diseases of the genitourinary system
Section
N17-N19
T79.5

Traumatic anuria

Not billable
Chapter 19
Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
Section
T79
Use when the record says
  • Crush syndrome
  • Renal failure following crushing
Indexed under
  • Bywaters' syndrome
  • Anuria › traumatic (following crushing)
  • Compression › syndrome
  • Crush, crushed, crushing › syndrome (complication of trauma)
  • Syndrome › Bywaters'

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