EmailProminent internal fixation device
Publication Date: June 2020
Implementation Date: 1/07/2020
ICD 10 AM Edition: Eleventh Edition
Query Number: 3581
Could VICC please advise the correct diagnosis code to assign for documentation of prominent internal fixation devices?
We often see prominent internal fixation device / metalware documented as the indication for removal of internal fixation devices. Research online indicates the term prominent is synonymous with protrusion, though there has been debate over these terms equivalence. There is no specific index pathway for ‘prominent’. The index pathway for protrusion leads to a code for a mechanical complication.
Can prominent internal fixation devices be classified to a mechanical complication code or should they be classified to a code for Other complication of device?
We often see prominent internal fixation device / metalware documented as the indication for removal of internal fixation devices. Research online indicates the term prominent is synonymous with protrusion, though there has been debate over these terms equivalence. There is no specific index pathway for ‘prominent’. The index pathway for protrusion leads to a code for a mechanical complication.
Can prominent internal fixation devices be classified to a mechanical complication code or should they be classified to a code for Other complication of device?
Response
VICC agrees that ‘prominent’ is synonymous with ‘protrusion’ and therefore documentation of a prominent internal fixation device is classified as a mechanical complication of a device.
VICC advises to follow Index entry Protrusion, protrusion/device, implant or graft/fixation, internal (orthopaedic) NEC to assign T84.1 Mechanical complication of internal fixation device of bones of limb or T84.2 Mechanical complication of internal fixation device of other bones.
VICC advises to follow Index entry Protrusion, protrusion/device, implant or graft/fixation, internal (orthopaedic) NEC to assign T84.1 Mechanical complication of internal fixation device of bones of limb or T84.2 Mechanical complication of internal fixation device of other bones.
