Chiropractic Coding & Compliance Alert
Reader Question:
Does ICD-10 Offer Codes for Right and Left Aspect of the Spine?
Published on Thu Nov 12, 2015 
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Question: Do we have any options to code the left and right sides for ICD-10 codes pertaining to the spine?
Texas Subscriber
Answer: Even though it’s common in ICD-10 to have separate codes pertaining to the right and the left sides of the body, the laterality concept applies primarily to the extremity codes. This does not apply to the spine, as it is not considered to have a left or right side.
What’s more, ICD-10 does not have too many codes exclusively for bilateral conditions. In that case you will have to mention codes for the right and the left side separately.
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