The musculoskeletal system is found within Chapter 13: Diseases of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue (M00-M99). This system comprises of the muscular and skeletal system.
There are several changes and expansion to the musculoskeletal code system in ICD-10. Most codes in this section require additional documentation that is required to correctly code site and laterality to the highest level of specificity. Which include:
- documentation of site and laterality
- more specific information for fractures and injuries
- identification of episode of care
- additional coding instructions surrounding osteoporosis
- reorganization of codes
In ICD-10 there is greater detail to identify and report a diagnosis more appropriately. Some categories and subcategories in the musculoskeletal system (Chapter 13) require the use of seventh character extension – for example, 274.03 Chronic gouty arthropathy with tophus will translate to:
- M1a.00x1 Idiopathic chronic gout unspecified site with tophus tophi
- M1a.08x1 Idiopathic chronic gout vertebrae with tophus tophi
Additionally, several codes were moved from various chapters in ICD-9 to Chapter 13 due to the organization of ICD-10-CM. One such disease is gout, which is a form of arthritis caused by the disposition of urate crystals around one or more joints that causes severe inflammation and pain. Gout was moved from chapter 3: Endocrine, Nutritional, and Metabolic Diseases and Immunity Disorders in ICD-9-CM to chapter 13 in ICD-10-CM. Since gout primarily involves joints that are a part of the musculoskeletal system, it was logical to reorganize this disease in ICD-10-CM to chapter 13. Additionally, osteomalacia (268.2) was moved from chapter 3 and malocclusion (524.4) from chapter 9: Disease of the Digestive System, in ICD-9-CM.
ICD-10-CM and the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue
- M00-M25: Arthropathies
- M00-M03: Infectious Arthropathies
- M05-M14: Inflammatory Polyarthropathies
- M15-M19: Arthrosis
- M20-M25: Other Joint Disorders
- M30-M36: Systemic Connective Tissue Disorders
- M40-M54: Doropathies
- M40-M43: Deforming Doropathies
- M45-M49: Spondylopathies
- M50-M54: other Doropathies
- M60-M79: Soft Tissue Disorders
- M60-M63: Disorders of Muscles
- M65-M68: Disorders of Synovium and Tendon
- M70-M79: Other Soft Tissue Disorders
- M80-M90: Osteopathies
- M91-M94: Chondropathies
- M95-M99: Other Disorders of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue
