Excludes1 pair
S06.8- vs S15.0-
S06.8 and S15.0 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 S15.0
injury of internal carotid artery, intracranial portion (S06.8)
S06.8
Other specified intracranial injuries
Not billable
- Chapter 19
- Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
- Section
- S00-S09
Indexed under
- Injury › blood vessel NEC › carotid artery › internal, intracranial
S15.0
Injury of carotid artery of neck
Not billable
- Chapter 19
- Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
- Section
- S10-S19
Use when the record says
- Injury of carotid artery (common) (external) (internal, extracranial portion)
- Injury of carotid artery NOS
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