Wiki Should we code Fever with a dx of Cellulitis?

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Should we code Fever separately if we have a dx of Cellulitis? Wouldn't it be a symptom of cellulitis?
 
Should we code Fever separately if we have a dx of Cellulitis? Wouldn't it be a symptom of cellulitis?

My ICD-9 has these little definitions all through it, and the one for cellulitis says "acute inflammation of deep subcutaneous tissue and sometimes muscle due to infection of wound, burn, or other lesion."

Also, if you go to the chapter specific conventions for Sepsis/SIRS, they list cellulitis as an example of an infection that could lead to SIRS - the symptoms of SIRS include fever, tachycardia, tachypnea, leukocytosis.

I'm not saying to 'code SIRS', here, but it doesn't sound as though 'fever' is a routine symptom for cellulitis, unless the infection has begun to spread. I'd probably code it.
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/cellulitis-symptoms
 
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