Health Information Management

Tip: Reporting torus fractures of the lower leg in ICD-10-CM

APCs Insider, August 22, 2014

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Unlike all other codes in ICD-10-CM category S82.-, torus fractures of the lower leg do not use the Gustilo-Anderson open classification for the seventh character. A torus fracture is a bone deformity in children, often occurring in the tibia and fibula, in which the bone bends, but does not fracture.
 
Instead, coders must choose one of the following:
  • A, initial encounter for closed fracture
  • D, subsequent encounter for fracture with routine healing
  • G, subsequent encounter for fracture with delayed healing
  • K, subsequent encounter for fracture with nonunion
  • P, subsequent encounter for fracture with malunion
  • S, sequela
Coders will report seventh character A when a condition is actively treated during the initial encounter (e.g., surgical treatment, ED encounter, evaluation by new physician[s]).
 
The subsequent encounter characters are used for follow-up treatment of that same injury during the recovery phase. The seventh character S, for sequela, should be used for complications that are a direct result of an injury.
 
This tip is adapted from “ICD-10-CM anatomy refresher: Lower leg” in the August issue of Briefings on APCs.



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