ICD 10 Coding Alert
Learn Which Conditions Are ‘External’ for Epileptic Seizures
Question: The ED physician treated a patient with alcohol-related epileptic seizures. The seizures were not intractable and included status epilepticus. Should I report a combination of codes for this condition? AAPC Forum Subscriber Answer: There actually is a single code for this condition. On the claim, report G40.501 (Epileptic seizures related to external causes, not intractable, with status epilepticus). Alcohol-related epileptic seizures are represented with G40.501, as are these conditions: 1 more thing: While you can report a single ICD-10 code to represent the seizure, you might need another code(s) to back up your primary diagnosis. In the notes beneath the G40.5 entry in ICD-10, you’ll see these instructions: 
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