Wiki recent fracture/unrelated

[Chanke]

I have a 9 yo male who has a fracture of the proximal humerus. He was diagnosed in the ED on 7/14. On 7/18 he wason his way to in to see ortho and was in a car wreck. He was transported by EMS to the same ED. He was diagnosed with multiple contusions/abrasions and had the humerus fracture xrayed as a precaution. No changes in the fracture. How do you code this fracture, as it was preexisting. It is not history of, it is not old, it is not aftercare......help.

 

[Kimmers]

I have a 9 yo male who has a fracture of the proximal humerus. He was diagnosed in the ED on 7/14. On 7/18 he wason his way to in to see ortho and was in a car wreck. He was transported by EMS to the same ED. He was diagnosed with multiple contusions/abrasions and had the humerus fracture xrayed as a precaution. No changes in the fracture. How do you code this fracture, as it was preexisting. It is not history of, it is not old, it is not aftercare......help.

If you are coding for date 7-18 the humerus fracture should be coded as an old injury, even if it only occurred 4 days previous. I would think healing would have begun once the bone was stabilized in the ED. You would code the abrasions/contusions as current injury.