# Laterality-Please help me



## deniesejames (Sep 11, 2013)

Please help me to clarify the following:

right is designated by the # 1
left is designated by the # 2
bilateral is designated by the # 3

unspecified is designated by the # 0 or 9 depending on if it is a 5th or 6th character, this piece  confuses me.

So if it is the 5th character then it is a 0 and if it is the 6th character it is a 9?


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## SVarney (Sep 12, 2013)

Essentially, yes; but not always. N61.09 is only 5 characters, but uses a 9 for unspecified.
The same holds true in the OB section where the 1,2,3 refer to the trimester, 0 and 9 are unspecified (depending on how long the code is)


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## mitchellde (Oct 18, 2013)

deniesebrooksjames said:


> Please help me to clarify the following:
> 
> right is designated by the # 1
> left is designated by the # 2
> ...



Not so much.  The laterality character is either 5th or 6th and is consistent within the category.  For instance M19.02 subcategory the 6th character is the laterality character but M17.1 subcategory the 5th character is the lt and rt designation but the bilateral is its own subcategory as M17.0
It is fairly consistent that for the laterality character the 1 is right and 2 is left however not always and bilateral is definitely not always 3.
Unspecified is a different character and a different place as is needed and cannot be totally predicted.  You need to study the book, there are consistent patterns but within sections not for the entire code set.


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