Injury of abducent nerve, right side, initial encounter

This code signifies a traumatic injury to the right abducens nerve (cranial nerve VI), which is responsible for lateral eye movement. Such an injury typically results in diplopia (double vision) and an inability to abduct the right eye. It indicates the initial phase of treatment for this specific nerve damage.

Use this code for a patient presenting with a newly diagnosed injury to the right abducens nerve due to trauma, such as a head injury, orbital fracture, or iatrogenic damage. Documentation should clearly state the right side involvement, the traumatic etiology, and that this is the first time the patient is being seen for this specific injury.

• Ensure documentation specifies "right side" and a traumatic cause; otherwise, an unspecified or non-traumatic code may be more appropriate.
• The "A" in the seventh character indicates an initial encounter for active treatment of the injury. Subsequent encounters for routine care during healing would use a different seventh character.
• Consider co-reporting with codes for the underlying cause of the trauma (e.g., skull fracture, orbital fracture) if applicable.