Struck by nonvenomous lizards, initial encounter

This code indicates an injury sustained from direct physical contact with a nonvenomous lizard. This typically involves a bite, scratch, or other impact from the animal.

Apply this code when documenting an initial patient encounter for an injury directly caused by a non-poisonous lizard. This includes incidents where a pet lizard bites a handler or a wild lizard causes harm.

• Always assign an external cause code (W59.02XA) in conjunction with a code for the specific injury sustained (e.g., S61.011A for laceration of finger).
• Ensure the "A" for initial encounter is used only for the first time the patient is seen for this specific injury.
• Verify that the lizard involved is explicitly documented as nonvenomous; otherwise, a different code may be appropriate.