T79.A12ATraumatic compartment syndrome of left upper extremity, initial encounter

T79.A12A is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for traumatic compartment syndrome of left upper extremity, initial encounter. It belongs to category T79 (certain early complications of trauma, not elsewhere classified), block T79 (certain early complications of trauma) and chapter 19 (injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes). It is billable, so it can be reported on its own for dates of service from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

The 7th character "A" means initial encounter: use it while the patient is receiving active treatment for the condition.

As a secondary diagnosis it is a CC (complication or comorbidity), which can move an inpatient stay into the "with CC" MS-DRG of its family, unless the principal diagnosis excludes it.

In MS-DRG v44.0, it is part of the grouping logic for DRG 922 (Other Injury, Poisoning and Toxic Effect Diagnoses with MCC, relative weight 1.6238), DRG 923 (Other Injury, Poisoning and Toxic Effect Diagnoses without MCC, relative weight 0.9973), DRG 963 (Other Multiple Significant Trauma with MCC, relative weight 2.6363), DRG 964 (Other Multiple Significant Trauma with CC, relative weight 1.4972) and DRG 965 (Other Multiple Significant Trauma without CC/MCC, relative weight 1.0059), in MDC 21 (Injuries, Poisonings and Toxic Effects of Drugs) and MDC 24 (Multiple Significant Trauma), as a principal or secondary diagnosis. The DRG a claim lands in depends on the principal diagnosis, procedures and any CC/MCC secondary diagnoses.

It has been part of ICD-10-CM since the code set took effect on October 1, 2015 and hasn't changed since.

Before ICD-10, this condition was coded in ICD-9-CM as 958.91 (traumatic compartment syndrome of upper extremity).