Radiology Coding Alert

Question: What’s the diagnosis code to report for dysfunctional elimination syndrome (DES)?

South Dakota Subscriber

Answer: Assuming you’re coding an office visit, you will have to refer back to the provider for an addendum in order to append a valid ICD-10-CM code. DES is a children’s disorder afflicting the bladder, bowel, or both. The condition is generally ambiguous to a variety of different conditions that result in a child’s inability to urinate or defecate normally. Symptoms can range from an overactive or underactive bladder to constipation and/or bowel incontinence.

In searching the ICD-10-CM index, you won’t find any diagnosis code that aligns with DES. DES is subjective depending on the organ affected; you should not consider reporting any sort of all-encompassing code. Rather, you should scour the chart and code the respective symptoms the patient is experiencing. For instance, if a child has an overactive bladder that technically qualifies as DES, you’ll report code N32.81 (Overactive bladder).