Orthopedic Coding Alert

Question: When a patient reports to the orthopedist complaining of neck pain, what is the correct ICD-10 code for the patient?

Georgia Subscriber

Answer: If the provider arrives at no more specific diagnosis than neck pain, then you should report M54.2 (Cervicalgia) for most diagnoses of neck pain.

Exception: If the neck pain is related to cervical disc disorder, then you might choose one of the following codes, depending on encounter specifics:

• M50.0- — Cervical disc disorder with myelopathy
• M50.1- — Cervical disc disorder with radiculopathy
• M50.2- — Other cervical disc displacement
• M50.3- — Other cervical disc degeneration
• M50.8- — Other cervical disc disorders
• M50.9- — Cervical disc disorder, unspecified.  

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