Coding Osteoarthritis

by  Find-A-Code™
Nov 30th, -0001 - Reviewed/Updated Apr 9th

Osteoarthritis is classified as primary, post-traumatic (also considered a type of primary osteoarthritis), or secondary. Although the symptoms for each classification are the same, the causes are different. Within ICD-10-CM, osteoarthritis is coded based on the cause and the affected area(s) (e.g., unilateral knee, bilateral hip). Documentation should identify type and laterality:

• Primary: typically associated with age-related degeneration of cartilage
• Post-Traumatic: considered a primary type; resulting from an injury (e.g., sports, vehicle accident) to the joint which leads to a breakdown of cartilage
• Secondary: caused by underlying infection, disease, or illness (e.g., obesity, congenital abnormality, gout, diabetes)

Example: M17 Osteoarthritis of knee
Code options include:
M17.0 Bilateral primary
M17.1- Unilateral primary
M17.2 Bilateral post-traumatic
M17.3- Unilateral post-traumatic
M17.4 Other bilateral
M17.5 Other unilateral
M17.9 Unspecified

Tip: When osteoarthritis develops following an injury, it should be reported with a code from post-traumatic osteoarthritis (not primary).