2025 ICD-10-CM code Y04.1
(Active) Effective Date: N/A External causes of morbidity - Assault by bodily force 20 External causes of morbidity (V00-Y99) Feed
Assault by human bite.
The medical necessity for using this code is to provide further context and detail about the cause of the injury, which can be important for statistical tracking, public health reporting, and legal purposes.
Clinicians should use this code as a secondary code to describe the cause of the injury.The primary code should describe the nature of the injury itself (e.g., laceration, fracture, etc.).
In simple words: This code indicates an injury caused by a human bite during an assault.
Assault by human bite. This code describes the circumstance causing an injury, not the nature of the injury.
Example 1: A patient presents to the emergency room with a laceration on their arm. They report being bitten by another person during a physical altercation. The primary code would be for the laceration, and Y04.1 would be used as a secondary code to indicate the cause of the injury., A child is brought to the pediatrician with a bite mark on their leg. The parents report that another child bit them during a fight at school.The primary code would describe the injury (e.g., contusion, open wound), and Y04.1 would be the secondary code., During a domestic dispute, one individual bites the other, resulting in a puncture wound. The treating physician documents the wound with an appropriate code and uses Y04.1 as a secondary code to specify the circumstances of the injury.
Documentation should clearly indicate that the injury was the result of a bite inflicted by another person during an assault. Details about the circumstances of the assault should be included, if available.
** It's crucial to differentiate this code from other assault codes.This code is specific to injuries resulting from human bites during an assault.Other forms of assault (e.g., using a weapon, striking, etc.) have different codes.
- Specialties:Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, Primary Care, Forensic Medicine
- Place of Service:Emergency Room - Hospital, Office, Inpatient Hospital, Outpatient Hospital