ICD-10 code S60.947S: Left little finger injury sequela

Key takeaways

ICD-10 code S60.947S covers an unspecified superficial injury of the left little finger, coded as a sequela.

S60.947S is billable in the FY2026 ICD-10-CM edition, effective October 1, 2025, while its parent code S60.947 is not.

The 7th character S separates sequela from initial encounter (A) and subsequent encounter (D), and the wrong pick gets the claim denied.

On a sequela claim the residual condition is listed first, and S60.947S follows it as the cause.

Practice management software like Pabau carries ICD-10-CM and CPT lookup libraries, plus a Claim.MD link for eligibility checks and claim status.

ICD-10 code S60.947S covers an unspecified superficial injury of the left little finger, coded as a sequela. The injury itself has healed. The patient is back for something it left behind, such as a scar or lasting stiffness. S60.947S is billable in the FY2026 ICD-10-CM set, effective October 1, 2025, and its parent code S60.947 is not.

For billing staff, the 7th character decides the outcome. Put an A or a D on a sequela visit and the payer reads a mismatched encounter type. This reference walks through the hierarchy, the A/D/S decision, the sibling codes, and the documentation that holds up.

What ICD-10 code S60.947S covers, in one table

S60.947S sits in chapter S00-T88 of ICD-10-CM, which covers injury, poisoning, and other consequences of external causes. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) lists it as valid for FY2026. Recheck validity every year, because the CDC/NCHS ICD-10-CM tool reflects updates effective each October 1. The table below pulls the reference data coders reach for most.

The code hierarchy shows why the 7th character is mandatory

S60.947S sits at the bottom of a six-level hierarchy. Each level narrows the description, and only the last one is billable. Walking down it is the fastest way to confirm you have the right code before the claim goes out.

S60.947 on its own is not billable. A claim carrying the parent code alone comes back rejected. The 7th character is what makes the code specific enough to pay. Practice management software like Pabau supports cleaner claims management with ICD-10-CM and CPT lookup libraries built into the record. Staff pick the billable child code as they chart, and completeness checks on required fields run before submission.

The 7th character tells the payer which stage of care you billed

Every injury code in this family needs a 7th character, and it reports the stage of care rather than the injury. Get it wrong and the payer sees a claim that contradicts the note. Three options apply across the S60.947 family.

What counts as a sequela

A sequela is a condition that follows from a past injury, after the acute phase of that injury has ended. The ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a, describe it as the residual effect left once the acute phase has terminated. For S60.947S, that means the finger injury is healed. What remains is something lasting, such as reduced grip, scar tissue or altered sensation.

A sequela encounter therefore carries two diagnosis codes. The residual condition goes first, whether that is the scar, the contracture or the functional limit. S60.947S goes second, naming what caused it. A subsequent encounter works differently, because there the injury itself is still under treatment.

Choosing between S60.947S and S60.947D

One question settles it. Is the finger injury still the active problem, or is the visit for something the healed injury left behind? An active problem takes the D code. A lasting effect takes the S code. The diagram below runs that test across all three characters, and shows the code order a sequela claim needs.

• Use S60.947D while the left little finger injury is still healing, and the patient is in for wound checks, dressing changes or routine monitoring.
• Use S60.947S once the finger has healed and the patient returns with a lasting condition, such as a hypertrophic scar, chronic pain or stiffness.
• Do not use S60.947S alongside an active-treatment encounter. Assigning S tells the payer the injury itself is resolved.
• Sequence the residual condition first. S60.947S sits second as the causal code, and reversed sequencing is a common trigger for documentation requests.

The index terms that lead to S60.947S

Encoder databases and the ICD-10-CM index recognize several clinical descriptions that land on S60.947S. Searching by terminology rather than by code number brings up any of these.

• Sequela of unspecified superficial injury of left little finger
• Sequela of unspecified superficial injury of left fifth finger
• Sequela of unspecified superficial injury of left pinky finger
• Late effect, superficial injury, left hand, fifth digit
• Residual condition following superficial injury of left fifth finger

The AAPC notes that its ICD-10-CM code lookup accepts both fifth finger and little finger as index entry terms across this family. Confirm the selection against the full tabular list either way, rather than trusting a keyword result.

Laterality is not optional on a finger code

Payers cannot process a side-specific anatomical site without a side. The S60.947 family captures left-side injuries only. A right little finger injury, or a case where the record never names the hand, takes a different code. Here is the full sibling set.

When the record does not name the hand, the unspecified laterality codes S60.949A, S60.949D and S60.949S apply. Expect a documentation request, though. Payers query an unspecified code when the patient’s own history should have settled which side was hurt.

What the note must say before you bill a sequela

A sequela claim carries a heavier documentation load than an initial or subsequent one. The payer has to see the chain running from the healed injury to the current condition. Five things belong in the note.

• Say the injury has resolved. The note must state that the original left little finger injury has healed, or is no longer the active problem.
• Name the residual condition. Something like scar contracture of the left fifth digit following prior superficial injury. That wording becomes the principal diagnosis.
• Make the causal link explicit. Language such as consequence of previous superficial injury to the left little finger is what supports the S.
• Record laterality in words. Name the side and the digit in the text of the note. A body diagram on its own will not carry the claim.
• Sequence the codes. List the residual condition first and S60.947S second. Reversed order draws a payer query or a denial.

Common mistakes that send S60.947S back

• Assigning A because it is the practice’s first encounter with this patient. Initial encounter describes active treatment, not a first appointment.
• Leaving S in place while the note still describes wound care. Those two statements contradict each other.
• Dropping laterality because the digit seems obvious. The subcategory has a left, a right and an unspecified option, and payers read all three differently.
• Submitting S60.947S on its own, with no residual condition code in front of it.

Clearinghouse checks catch a different class of problem, and they are worth having. Pabau connects to Claim.MD for real-time eligibility checks, remittance advice posting and claim status tracking. That means you can see what the payer did without phoning to ask. Coding accuracy still sits with the note, though. Building a repeatable clean claim process across the whole injury code family cuts rework further than fixing S60.947S alone.

How a superficial finger injury turns into a sequela

Superficial injuries of the hand and fingers sit in the S60 category. They cover abrasions, blisters, contusions, insect bites and other surface trauma that spares deeper tissue. Primary care, urgent care and occupational health see them constantly.

Most of them resolve without complication. The ones that do leave a sequela tend to follow a few recognizable patterns.

• Scarring and hypertrophic tissue. Raised scar tissue on the finger can limit flexion or ache during grip-heavy work.
• Hypersensitivity or paresthesia. Even minor surface injuries can irritate small cutaneous nerves in the fingertip, leaving tingling or altered sensation.
• Chronic tenderness at the site. Some patients come back months after a contusion with tenderness over the distal phalanx.
• Functional limits. Occupational health patients often report trouble with fine motor tasks, traced to a finger injury that has technically healed.

Any of these supports S60.947S once the note ties it to the original left little finger injury. For practices running high volumes of injury follow-up, the workflow step that matters is tracking when a patient moves from active treatment to sequela status. Miss that transition and a D goes out where an S belonged. That mismatch is a familiar entry on any list of preventable denial codes.

How Pabau keeps sequela claims moving

Most practices code an injury follow-up in one system and bill it in another. Someone reads the note, picks the code, retypes it into the billing screen, then hopes the encounter type matches what the clinician wrote. Every hand-off is a chance for an A to travel where an S belonged.

Pabau keeps both jobs in one record. ICD-10-CM and CPT lookup libraries sit next to the note, so the code gets chosen against the documentation rather than from memory. Completeness checks on required claim fields run before submission, which catches the blank field that would otherwise bounce the claim.

From there the claim goes out electronically through the Claim.MD integration. You get real-time eligibility checks, remittance advice posted back automatically, and claim status you can read without phoning the payer. The 7th character judgment stays with your coder, where it belongs. What changes is how fast you find out the claim landed.

Spend less time chasing injury claims

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Conclusion

S60.947S turns on one reading of the record. The left little finger injury has healed, and today’s visit is for what it left behind. Document that clearly, put the residual condition ahead of the code, and the claim behaves. Blur it, and the payer sees an encounter type that contradicts the note.

That judgment stays with your coder, and no clearinghouse will make it for them. What software can take off the desk is the retyping and the waiting. Book a demo to see how Pabau moves an injury claim from the note to the payer without a second system in the middle.

Continue your research

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