S04.049A Injury of visual cortex, unspecified side, initial encounter

Billable ICD-10-CM code, FY2026.

Built from S04.049 with 7th character A (initial encounter).

Applies from S04 Injury of cranial nerve

Applicable to

• The selection of side should be based on the side of the body being affected

Code first

• any associated intracranial injury (S06.-)

Code also

• any associated:
• open wound of head (S01.-)
• skull fracture (S02.-)

7th character note

• The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S04

7th character required

• A — initial encounter
• D — subsequent encounter
• S — sequela

Applies from S04.0 Injury of optic nerve and pathways

Use additional code

• code to identify any visual field defect or blindness (H53.4-, H54.-)

Applies from S04.049 Injury of visual cortex, unspecified side

Applicable to

• Injury of visual cortex NOS

Medicare Code Edits (MCE v43.1 (April 2026))

• Unspecified code (laterality): Unspecified codes for which a more specific code identifying laterality (right, left, bilateral) exists within the same code family.

Code annotations containing back-references to S04.049A

Back-references to S04.04

• Type 1 Excludes: H47.6 Disorders of visual cortex ("injury to visual cortex S04.04-")

Back-references to S04.0

• Type 2 Excludes: S05 Injury of eye and orbit ("2nd cranial [optic] nerve injury (S04.0-)")

Back-references to S04

• Code Also: G96.00 Cerebrospinal fluid leak, unspecified ("head injury (S00-S09)")
• Code Also: G96.08 Other cranial cerebrospinal fluid leak ("head injury (S00 - S09)")
• Code Also: G96.09 Other spinal cerebrospinal fluid leak ("head injury (S00 - S09)")
• Code Also: S01 Open wound of head ("injury of cranial nerve (S04.-)")

Nearby codes

• S04.042 Injury of visual cortex, left side
• S04.042A Injury of visual cortex, left side, initial encounter
• S04.042D Injury of visual cortex, left side, subsequent encounter
• S04.042S Injury of visual cortex, left side, sequela
• S04.049 Injury of visual cortex, unspecified side
• S04.049A Injury of visual cortex, unspecified side, initial encounter (this code)
• S04.049D Injury of visual cortex, unspecified side, subsequent encounter
• S04.049S Injury of visual cortex, unspecified side, sequela
• S04.1 Injury of oculomotor nerve
• S04.10 Injury of oculomotor nerve, unspecified side
• S04.10XA Injury of oculomotor nerve, unspecified side, initial encounter