DecisionHealth, DecisionHealth - 2017 Issue 3 (March)

Diagnosis coding corner: Don’t break down when you encounter nonunion diagnosis of the vertebra

A patient comes in for the first in a series of transforaminal epidural injections. The note states the patient’s pain is related to the nonunion of a stable burst fracture of the first lumbar vertebra. You quickly locate the correct diagnosis code, S32.011, but see that it requires a seventh character to complete. Should you select A (initial encounter for closed fracture) or K (subsequent encounter, non-union)?

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