Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Make sure you know the laterality with ICD-10.Non-remitting backache is a common complaint for patients presenting for neurosurgical treatment, so understanding how to report these diagnoses in ICD-10 will be especially important. You will need to be very selective and specific for the right or left side when reporting lumbago and sciatica.Review the ICD-9 CodesPresently, ICD-9-CM has codes 724.2 (Lumbago) and 724.3 (Sciatica) for lumbago and sciatica. Neither of the codes specifies what side the patient's pain is on, so you report the same codes for both right- and left-sided conditions.Mark these ICD-10 ChangesInterestingly, ICD-10 includes low back pain, sciatica, and a third condition that combines the two conditions. The three codes are:M54.5 -- Low back painM54.3 -- Sciatica...M54.4 -- Lumbago with sciatica...Look for Anatomical Side SpecificityThe ICD-10 is specific for the side of involvement in lumbago and sciatica. "In ICD-10, laterality will be important," affirms Jennifer Schmutz, CPC, health information coder at [...]