Revenue Cycle Insider

Question: Encounter notes indicate that a patient suffers from Brown-Sequard syndrome. Should I just report G83.9 for the patient?

Iowa Subscriber

Answer: You should not report G83.9 (Paralytic syndrome, unspecified) because the provider actually did specify the paralytic syndrome. Instead, you should look at the entry before G83.9, G83.8- (Other specified paralytic syndromes).

Under G83.8-, you’ll actually find the exact diagnosis you’re looking for: G83.81 (Brown-Sequard syndrome). This syndrome occurs when a patient damages one side of their spinal cord. As a result, the patient can suffer a range of neurological deficits, from partial paralysis on the injured side of the spinal cord to loss of pain sensation on the opposite side of the injury.

In addition to G83.81, the G83.8- code set also contains these 5^th character options:

• G83.82 (Anterior cord syndrome)
• G83.83 (Posterior cord syndrome)
• G83.84 (Todd's paralysis (postepileptic))
• G83.89 (Other specified paralytic syndromes).

Chris Boucher, MS, CPC, Senior Development Editor, AAPC