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Wiki Failed back surgery syndrome?

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katrinabgood

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Took me a while to figure this one out... the doc had written "FBBS," I went a little nuts trying to figure out what that extra B meant. Come to find out she meant to say FBSS, standing for "failed back surgery syndrome." :rolleyes: ANYWAY... is there a code for this? I used v454 for history of spinal fusion, but is there a way to indicate that this was unsuccessful?
 
post laminectomy vs post laminectomy syndrome

When a physician documents "post laminectomy and fusion", and doesn't further elaborate, I was told by another coder that since the pt had a laminectomy, this automatically implies the patient has "Post laminectomy Syndrome" 722xx.

I disagree, since the physician is only stating that the pt is post surgery; Not that the surgery failed.

(We code for the physician, not the hospital) I was coding this as v45.4 to indicate the pt is post fusion/which includes the surgery. I've always understood that PLS and FBS (failed back syndrome) means that the laminectomy/surgery failed, and that the pt has continued chronic pain...

Please give me your thoughts on the matter,

Thanks!
 
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