Degenerative disc disease can lead to a chronic debilitating condition and can have a serious negative impact on a person's quality of life. When pain from degenerative disc disease is severe, traditional nonoperative treatment may be ineffective. Cause. There is a disc between each of the vertebrae in the spine.
The condition is typically diagnosed by the following process:
ICD-10 code M50. 122 for Cervical disc disorder at C5-C6 level with radiculopathy is a medical classification as listed by WHO under the range - Dorsopathies .
36 - Other intervertebral disc degeneration, lumbar region is a topic covered in the ICD-10-CM.
Code M54. 2 is the diagnosis code used for Cervicalgia (Neck Pain).
ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code M19 M19.
Degenerative disc disease or DDD can be the cause of many different symptoms resulting in localized pain or pain that radiates down the leg. Degenerative joint disease or DJD is very different, but can have overlapping symptoms with DDD.
However, degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis are different conditions and can occur separately: one can have degenerative discs without any facet osteoarthritis; or one can have facet osteoarthritis without degenerative discs.
9: Dorsalgia, unspecified.
M54. 2 is a billable/specific ICD-10-CM code that can be used to indicate a diagnosis for reimbursement purposes.
ICD-10 code M54. 5, low back pain, effective October 1, 2021. That means providers cannot use M54. 5 to specify a diagnosis on or after October 1—and existing patients with the M54.
812 Spondylosis without myelopathy or radiculopathy, cervical region.
M47. 812 - Spondylosis without myelopathy or radiculopathy, cervical region | ICD-10-CM.
ICD-10 Code for Other spondylosis with radiculopathy, cervical region- M47. 22- Codify by AAPC.
ICD-10 Code M54. 5 for Chronic Low Back Pain | CareCloud.
89.29 or the diagnosis term “chronic pain syndrome” to utilize ICD-10 code G89. 4. If not documented, other symptom diagnosis codes may be utilized.
ICD-10 Code for Intervertebral disc disorders with radiculopathy, lumbar region- M51. 16- Codify by AAPC.
16.
Other cervical disc degeneration at C5-C6 level 1 M50.322 is a billable/specific ICD-10-CM code that can be used to indicate a diagnosis for reimbursement purposes. 2 The 2021 edition of ICD-10-CM M50.322 became effective on October 1, 2020. 3 This is the American ICD-10-CM version of M50.322 - other international versions of ICD-10 M50.322 may differ.
The 2022 edition of ICD-10-CM M50.322 became effective on October 1, 2021.
Other cervical disc degeneration, mid-cervical region 1 M00-M99#N#2021 ICD-10-CM Range M00-M99#N#Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue#N#Note#N#Use an external cause code following the code for the musculoskeletal condition, if applicable, to identify the cause of the musculoskeletal condition#N#Type 2 Excludes#N#arthropathic psoriasis ( L40.5-)#N#certain conditions originating in the perinatal period ( P04 - P96)#N#certain infectious and parasitic diseases ( A00-B99)#N#compartment syndrome (traumatic) ( T79.A-)#N#complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium ( O00-O9A)#N#congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities ( Q00-Q99)#N#endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases ( E00 - E88)#N#injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes ( S00-T88)#N#neoplasms ( C00-D49)#N#symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified ( R00 - R94)#N#Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue 2 M50-M54#N#2021 ICD-10-CM Range M50-M54#N#Other dorsopathies#N#Type 1 Excludes#N#current injury - see injury of spine by body region#N#discitis NOS ( M46.4-)#N#Other dorsopathies 3 M50#N#ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code M50#N#Cervical disc disorders#N#2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Non-Billable/Non-Specific Code#N#Includes#N#cervicothoracic disc disorders with cervicalgia#N#cervicothoracic disc disorders#N#Note#N#code to the most superior level of disorder#N#Cervical disc disorders
The 2022 edition of ICD-10-CM M50.32 became effective on October 1, 2021.
Only use the fourth character “9” for unspecified disc disorders if the documentation does not indicate anything more than the presence of a disc problem. But beware, payors are expected to ask for clarification if unspecified or “NOS” codes are used.
9 = unspecified disc disorder. The fifth character provides detail about the anatomical location within the spinal region. A basic knowledge of spinal anatomy should make fifth-character selection easy, but only if it is documented properly. This includes transitionary regions.
These spinal disc codes appear to be a bit complex, but with some study and evaluation, the logic used to create them becomes clear. The provider can use the codes to guide proper documentation and the coder then can select the right codes with confidence.
It is already included in the code. Likewise, don’t code sciatica (M54.3-) if you code for lumbar disc with radiculopathy. It would be redundant. On a side note, lumbar radiculopathy (M54.16) might be used if pain is not yet known to be due a disc, but it radiates from the lumbar spine.