Reader Question:
Stay on Your Toes With Amputation ICD-9s
Published on Fri Jun 10, 2011
Question: A patient visited our clinic for a checkup for some ulcers on her right ankle. She had the toes on her right foot amputated six months ago due to gangrene. She has type II diabetes, peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and malignant hypertension. How should I code her condition?Nevada SubscriberAnswer: For your patient, code:250.70 -- Diabetes with peripheral circulatory disorders; type II or unspecified type, not stated as uncontrolled443.81 -- Peripheral angiopathy in diseases classified elsewhereV49.73 -- Foot amputation status401.0 -- Malignant essential hypertension.Report 250.70 for diabetes with peripheral circulatory disorders, then list the manifestation code for PVD. In this case, it's 443.81. Use V49.73 to identify the specific amputation site. You should use the V49.6x and V49.7x codes only to report acquired amputation status due to trauma or surgical amputation due to disease.For the hypertension, list 401.0 for this patient. Don't list a code for gangrene because it's no longer present. The PVD, [...]
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