Radiology Coding Alert
Is Disc Degeneration the Same as a Disc Bulge? Find out.
Question: A 55-year-old patient presented to an outpatient radiology practice for X-rays of their lumbosacral spine. The radiologist captured anteroposterior (AP), lateral, and bending views of the patient’s lumbosacral region. The provider interpreted the images and diagnosed the patient with a left far lateral disc bulge at L4-L5. What codes do I need to report a disc bulge? Montana Subscriber Answer: You’ll assign M51.36 (Other intervertebral disc degeneration, lumbar region) to report the left far lateral disc bulge. While the radiologist captured images of the lumbosacral region, they narrowed down the diagnosis to the lumbar spine specifically. A bulging disc develops over time as a result of the disc’s degeneration. This means you’ll search for Degeneration, degenerative > intervertebral disc NOS > lumbar region in the ICD-10-CM code set Alphabetic Index. This means you’ll be directed to M51.36. You’ll then verify the code in the Tabular list. The Alphabetic Index doesn’t list disc bulge or variations of that phrase, which means remembering that a bulging disc is a degeneration of the disc is critical to locating the correct code. Don’t forget the procedure: You’ll also assign 72100 (Radiologic examination, spine, lumbosacral; 2 or 3 views) to report the X-rays of the patient’s lumbosacral spine.
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Is Disc Degeneration the Same as a Disc Bulge? Find out.
Question: A 55-year-old patient presented to an outpatient radiology practice for X-rays of their lumbosacral spine. [...]
