S09.3
Header — not billableOther specified and unspecified injury of middle and inner ear
The ICD-10 code for other specified and unspecified injury of middle and inner ear is S09.3.
S09.3 is a non-billable header code. It groups related conditions but cannot be used on its own for reimbursement — select one of the 3 more specific codes below.
Clinical notes
Excludes1 (not coded here)
An Excludes1 note is a pure exclusion: the excluded condition and this code should never be reported together, because the two conditions cannot occur at the same time (e.g. a congenital form vs. an acquired form of the same disease).
- injury to ear NOS (S09.91-)
Documentation support
General coding-documentation guidance — not a substitute for payer-specific requirements or professional coding judgment.
- •This is a non-billable header code. Documentation must support a more specific child code before this diagnosis can be reported on a claim.
- •This code describes an unspecified presentation. If the medical record documents a more specific detail (e.g. laterality, type, or affected site), a more specific sibling code should be used instead — see Related codes below.
- •Confirm the excluded condition(s) listed above are not also present — Excludes1 conditions cannot be coded together with this one.
- •As a general rule, code to the highest level of specificity supported by the documentation in the medical record.
Related codes in this category
- S09.0Injury of blood vessels of head, not elsewhere classified
- S09.1Injury of muscle and tendon of headnon-billable header
- S09.2Traumatic rupture of ear drumnon-billable header
- S09.8Other specified injuries of head
- S09.9Unspecified injury of face and headnon-billable header
- S09.3Other specified and unspecified injury of middle and inner earnon-billable header