Question:
New Jersey Subscriber
Answer:
"Knee pain" would be coded as 719.46 (Other and unspecified disorders of joint; pain in joint; lower leg). In general, arthritis (whether acute, chronic, or subacute) is classified as 716.9x, and arthritis in the knee would be coded 716.96 (Other and unspecified arthropathies; Arthropathy, unspecified; lower leg). Assuming the arthritis is a more definitive diagnosis of the "knee pain" also noted, you would simply code 716.96. ICD-9 does not provide a mechanism to specify left versus right knee; you will likely have to wait for ICD-10 to get to that level of detail.