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Neurosurgery Coding Alert

ICD-10 Update:

Let Specific Regions Guide Your Radiculopathy Dx

Published on Tue Nov 15, 2011

Single ICD-9 code expands to four codes in ICD-10.Radiculopathy gets site-specific for spinal regions in ICD-10. To ensure that your surgeon will be ready when the Oct. 1, 2013 deadline hits, you can reinforce the need for specific region in the operative note in the documentation. Make sure your surgeon mentions the involvement of one or more cervical, thoracic, lumbar or sacral regions.Review Anatomical LocationsThe spine is divided into five regions, namely the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal regions (Figure 1). There are 33 vertebrae that encase the spinal cord. These include the 7 cervical (C1-C7), 12 thoracic (T1-T12), 5 lumbar (L1-L5), 5 sacral (S1-S5), and 4 coccygeal bones. The last two regions are fused together and the rest are separated by intervertebral spaces. The coccyx is also called the tail bone. The nerves emerge from the intervertebral foramina and the initial segment of the nerves close to the [...]
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