# Swelling of limb vs edema of leg



## tag60 (May 21, 2015)

Pt presents to outpatient clinic with symptoms concerning for DVT, including leg swelling, pain, and warmth and is told to go to ER to rule out DVT. What is the better/correct code for the symptom of leg swelling? I'm unsure whether to look up "edema" or "swelling" when both words appear in the report.

Per ICD-9 index:

Edema, legs = 782.3 (in symptoms section)
Swelling, leg  =729.81 (in musculoskeletal/connective tissue section)

Perhaps because this is a symptom, I use 782.3...? Would I still use that even if provider states only "swelling" in leg?

Thanks in advance!


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## mitchellde (May 22, 2015)

If the provider states swelling of leg then you code the swelling of limb.  As a coder you cannot make the decision that this is edema.


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## SDAlward (Jun 4, 2015)

I agree I would use 729.81 for swelling of the limb, you can't assume anything, although i really dont understand the difference between swelling and edema


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