Wiki Tenderness vs Pain

[kyannekis]

I often see in exam abdominal tenderness but then have a final dx of abdominal pain. Should I provide education to providers that it's better to use the tenderness instead of pain as the final diagnosis? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[Chelle-Lynn]

Ultimately it is up to the provider to make the medical determination between pain and tenderness. I would possibly ensure that the provider is aware of that there are two different codes tenderness vs pain as they may be coding pain unaware that this is a specific code for tenderness.

Beyond that this would be a medical decision and outside of our scope of practice.