Eli's Rehab Report

You Be the Coder:

Lumbar Disc Disease

Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the box below for the answer.

Question: Are lumbar discogenic disease and lumbar disc disease coded as 722.10 (Lumbar intervertebral disc without myelopathy)? Is this code appropriate if the patient has lumbar disc disease with radiculopathy?

Ohio Subscriber

 
 

Answer: A more accurate code for lumbar discogeneic disease (also known as lumbar disc disease) is 722.52 (Degeneration of lumbar or lumbosacral intervertebral disc). If the diagnosis includes radicu-lopathy disease of the nerve roots you should add 724.4 (Thoracic or lumbosacral neuritis or radiculitis, unspecified) as a secondary code to give the insurer a complete picture of the patient's status.

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