You Be the Coder ~ Broken Toes Don't Mean Pregnancy Complications
Published on Thu Nov 02, 2006
Question: My ob-gyn saw a pregnant patient who broke her toe. What diagnosis should I use? Should I choose one of the codes for complications of pregnancy?
Maine Subscriber
Answer: Your coding choice depends on what your physician has documented. The guidelines are quite clear that the ob-gyn must indicate that the condition is not complicating or affecting the pregnancy to use the fracture code and V22.2 (Pregnant state, incidental).
If he does not include this statement in the medical record and he evaluates, treats or manages the broken toe, you have to use a code from the ob chapter as the primary diagnosis.
The ICD-9 rules- default is that the condition is affecting the pregnancy. In that case, you should use 648.9x (Other current conditions classifiable elsewhere) and the fracture code. If the ob-gyn simply notes that the patient has a broken toe without intervention, this is not a codeable diagnosis.
