Adding lengths only after grouping

Injury assessment

Synthetic record, September 9, 2026. An adult presents after broken glass causes lacerations of both forearms and the upper lip. Examination documents intact hand motion and sensation, no retained foreign body, and no lip injury through the mucosa or vermilion border. The clinician plans repair of all three wounds.

Signed repair report

After irrigation and local anesthesia, the clinician closes subcutaneous tissue and skin in each forearm wound. Completed repair lengths are 2.4 cm on the right forearm and 1.6 cm on the left forearm. No extensive debridement, flap or graft is performed.

Third repair

The upper-lip skin wound receives layered closure of subcutaneous tissue and skin, with a completed repair length of 1.2 cm. This is a separate traumatic wound, not closure of a lesion excision. Hemostasis and wound-care instructions are documented for all three sites.

Book-review premise

For this grouping exercise, current authorized-entry review has confirmed that the two forearm repairs share a complexity and anatomical group, while the lip repair belongs to a different anatomical group. Compare a proposed 5.2 cm combined total with a proposed 2.4 cm first-group total. The WPS documentation rule supports adding lengths only within the applicable group.

Your coding worksheet

1. Build the groups before adding.
2. Calculate the first group total.
3. Keep the third repair in its own group.
4. Explain why neither 5.2 cm nor only 2.4 cm is the first group’s length.

In your notebook, record the supported facts, your index route, the instructions you checked, and any missing detail that limits your answer.