Burn of second degree of unspecified shoulder, sequela

This diagnosis code indicates a second-degree burn affecting an unspecified shoulder, where the burn itself is no longer acute but has resulted in a lasting complication or condition. This implies that the initial injury has healed, but the patient is now experiencing a residual effect such as scarring, contracture, or chronic pain directly attributable to the burn.

Use this code when documenting a patient encounter for a long-term consequence of a second-degree burn to the shoulder, after the acute phase of the burn has passed. This is appropriate for follow-up care related to burn scars, limited range of motion, or other chronic issues stemming from the original injury. Do not use this code for the initial treatment of an acute burn.

• Always assign an external cause code (V00-Y99) to describe the circumstances of the burn injury, even for sequela codes.
• Ensure documentation clearly links the current condition to the previous burn injury of the shoulder.
• Verify that the burn is indeed second-degree and that the specific shoulder (left or right) is not documented, necessitating the "unspecified" laterality.