Anesthesia Coding Alert

New diagnoses won’t be built around whether metal is present. 

Your anesthesiologist is present during surgery to remove a foreign body that punctured a child’s eye. Start by checking the surgeon’s record to verify whether the puncture wound was metallic, and you’ll be on your way to selecting the correct diagnosis. 

ICD-9 options: If the wound does include magnetic fragments, your current diagnosis is 871.5 (Penetration of eyeball with magnetic foreign body). If no metal is present, you’ll report 871.6 (Penetration of eyeball with [nonmagnetic] foreign body). 

ICD-10 update: When you begin coding with ICD-10, you’ll base your choice on the affected eye rather than whether metallic fragments are present. Both 871.5 and 871.6 will expand to: 

• S05.50XA – Penetrating wound with foreign body of unspecified eyeball, initial encounter
  
• S05.51XA – Penetrating wound with foreign body of right eyeball, initial encounter
  
• S05.52XA – Penetrating wound with foreign body of left eyeball, initial encounter. 
  

Coding tip: Diagnoses 871.5 and 871.6 can apply to animal bites, puncture wounds, cuts/lacerations, or avulsion. Do not report 871.5 or 871.6 if the surgeon is removing an old (retained) foreign body.