Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Reader questions:

Follow ICD-9 to 742.59 for tethered cord

Published on Sat Nov 21, 2009

Question: What diagnosis should we report for tethered cord?

Arkansas Subscriber

Answer: When you search under "syndrome, tethered (spinal) cord," ICD-9 directs you to 742.59 (Other specified anomalies of spinal cord).

Tethered cord is sometimes seen with syrinx (a pathological tube-shaped cavity in the brain or spinal cord with the diagnosis 336.0 (Syringomyelia and syringobulbia). However, 742.59 is the correct diagnosis for tethered cord.

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