Unspecified injury of ear, sequela

This code signifies a long-term or late effect of an unspecified injury to the ear. It indicates that the original injury has healed, but residual symptoms or conditions persist as a direct consequence, without specific details about the nature of the initial trauma.

Use this code when documentation clearly indicates a sequela (late effect) of an ear injury, but the specific type of injury is not documented. This is appropriate for conditions like chronic otalgia, persistent tinnitus, or hearing loss directly attributed to a past, unspecified ear trauma, after the acute phase of the injury has passed.

• Always assign a sequela code with a code describing the specific residual condition (e.g., tinnitus, hearing loss).
• Ensure documentation explicitly states the condition is a "sequela" or "late effect" of a prior ear injury.
• Avoid using this code for acute injuries; instead, use the appropriate acute injury code with the 7th character for initial, subsequent, or sequela encounter.