Wiki Initial Treatment for Laceration?

Create Wiki
E

elizabeth24

Guru
Messages
178
Best answers
0
These 7th characters can be tricky with injuries, so I just wanted to see if I am on the right track in my thought process. If a patient has a laceration, and that laceration has already been sutured (sutures are still present), and the laceration was a complicated, deep laceration, and the patient now presents due to pain (different facility) it would still be an initial encounter, correct?

Thanks!
Beth:D
 
No not an initial encounter for the laceration, look up the complication and if the complication code requires a 7th character then it would be an A for initial active treatment of the laceration. If the complication code does not require a 7th character then you code for the condition such as the G89 code for pain due to trauma then code the laceration as a secondary code with either a D or S as the 7th character depending on the status of the laceration.
 
So pain would be considered a complication in this circumstance? Pain is the reason the patient presented to the ER. I was uncertain how to determine what is considered a "complication." If in fact I end up using G89 and then the laceration with the 7th character of "D" or "S" - how do you base the 7th character choice?
Does sequelae only apply after the initial injury has been treated and healed?
I have read and read over these rules in the code book, and the burn example for the sequelae makes sense, however, this is a laceration that has just been sutured two days prior, which is a totally different scenario.

Are there any other places to get some further information on these types of encounters and the use of the 7th characters, "A" "D" and "S"?

Thanks
 
If the laceration is still healing then it is subsequent. Sequela is after the injury has healed but there are residual issues, such as a scar or even lingering pain that did not resolve in the healing phase. If the laceration was sutured two days ago, the sutures are still present so it is healing. Use subsequent.
 
If I am understanding your earlier response correctly, I would assign, T79.8XXA for the complication code due to trauma, with 7th character A.

Am I understanding correctly that the choice of 7th character "A" is because this is the "initial" encounter for the "complication" of the laceration?

Thank you so much for all your help! I do ER coding, and I just want to be sure I have a good grip on understanding the correct way to assign these 7th characters with injuries. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top