When to Use Signs and Symptoms Codes
Published on Mon Jul 01, 2002
Symptoms, Signs, and Ill-Defined Conditions codes (780-799.9), listed in section 16 of the ICD-9 manual, are useful when no definitive diagnosis exists. Some symptoms, such as "limb pain" (729.5) or joint symptoms (719.6x) are considered more specific and are therefore not listed in the signs and symptoms section. Instead, this section focuses on those patients whose conditions cannot be better pinpointed.
For instance, a patient presents to the orthopedist suspecting that she might have osteoporosis (733.00-733.09) because she is shrinking. The orthopedist finds no sign of osteoporosis or other disease, and therefore codes the visit with the ICD-9 code for "loss of height" (781.91).
The following signs and symptoms codes are those most commonly seen by orthopedists: 781.0 Abnormal involuntary movements 781.2 Abnormality of gait 781.91 Loss of height 781.92 Abnormal posture 782.0 Disturbance of skin sensation 782.2 Localized superficial swelling, mass, or lump 782.3 Edema 783.43 Short stature 785.4 Gangrene 793.7 Nonspecific abnormal findings on radiological and other examination of musculoskele-tal system.
