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Primary Care Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Finding the Right FB Sensation Diagnosis

Published on Tue Aug 14, 2007

Question: A new patient complaining of throat pain reports to the FP. The FP makes a diagnosis of foreign- body sensation in the throat. Is there a diagnosis code for foreign-body sensation in the throat?


North Dakota Subscriber


Answer: Because there is no exact ICD-9 code to match foreign-body (FB) sensation in the throat, you should choose from a pair of diagnosis codes that closely match the symptoms of FB sensation.

The two ICD9 Codes that most closely resemble your patient's symptoms are:

- 784.1--Throat pain
- 784.99--Other symptoms involving head and neck. Which code you choose will probably depend on the payer's preference. If you don't know your payer's policy on diagnosis coding for FB sensation in the throat, contact a representative to make sure.
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