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Neurosurgery Coding Alert

ICD-10 Update:

ICD-10: Navigate Your Way Through a Plethora of Dens Fracture Choices

Published on Thu Aug 02, 2012

Confirm type of fracture and displacement.ICD-10 raises the stakes for your dens fracture coding from a single code in ICD-9 to numerous possible codes, which will require you to specify fracture type and displacements, if any.ICD-9: You report code 805.02 (Closed fracture of second cervical vertebra) for a dens fracture, which is among a range of codes (805.xx) for the fractures of the vertebral column. A fourth digit of "0" is used for closed fractures. The final digit "2" is specific to the second cervical vertebra (axis). "If there is a closed, displaced C2 fracture, irrespective of the type of fracture, this would additionally be reported with code 839.02 (Closed dislocation second cervical vertebra)," says Gregory Przybylski, MD, director of neurosurgery, New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, JFK Medical Center, Edison.ICD-10: You have numerous options for reporting the fracture of dens in ICD-10. There may be times when your surgeon does not [...]
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