Wiki when a condition could have a bilateral code but doesn't

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The Angel Of the South

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I saw a coding practice question in which a patient has third-degree burns on both thighs. It ends up using the T-code for third-degree burn to unspecified thigh, T24.319, because there apparently is no bilateral code there. (How do I know that answer is correct? Because it's a test practice book with detailed answers.) It just bugs me, because the thigh is not unspecified; it's both of them. There is no code that describes both...so I am required to pretend the burn is to an unspecified thigh. Unless anyone wants to inform me that the book got it wrong.

Just studying and practicing ICD-10, I think I've seen it more than once: a bilateral code would be helpful but simply doesn't exist.
 
I think unspecified thigh is incorrect if it is documented as both.
From coding guideline B 13 (my emphasis added)
Laterality
Some ICD-10-CM codes indicate laterality, specifying whether the condition occurs on the left, right or is bilateral. If no bilateral code is provided and the condition is bilateral, assign separate codes for both the left and right side. If the side is not identified in the medical record, assign the code for the unspecified side. When a patient has a bilateral condition and each side is treated during separate encounters, assign the "bilateral" code (as the condition still exists on both sides), including for the encounter to treat the first side. For the second encounter for treatment after one side has previously been treated and the condition no longer exists on that side, assign the appropriate unilateral code for the side where the condition still exists (e.g., cataract surgery performed on each eye in separate encounters). The bilateral code would not be assigned for the subsequent encounter, as the patient no longer has the condition in the previously-treated site. If the treatment on the first side did not completely resolve the condition, then the bilateral code would still be appropriate.

There could be a different guideline (maybe something specific to burns that I didn't see) that overrides this, or the practice test is wrong.
 
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