Unsp injury of superior mesenteric artery, init encntr

This code signifies an injury to the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) where the specific nature or type of the injury (e.g., laceration, contusion, rupture) is not documented. The SMA is a major abdominal artery supplying blood to a large portion of the small intestine and parts of the large intestine.

This code is appropriate for initial encounters when a patient presents with evidence of trauma to the superior mesenteric artery, but the precise anatomical extent or character of the injury cannot be determined from the medical record. This might occur in emergency settings with limited diagnostic information or when the physician's documentation simply states "SMA injury" without further detail.

• Only use this code when the specific type of SMA injury is truly unspecified in the documentation.
• Always query the provider for more specific details if available to allow for more precise coding.
• Ensure the "A" seventh character is used only for the initial encounter for this injury.