Find information on meniscus tear diagnosis, including clinical documentation, medical coding, ICD-10 codes, and CPT codes. Learn about meniscus tear symptoms, treatment, and rehabilitation. This resource provides details for healthcare professionals on accurately documenting and coding a meniscus tear diagnosis for insurance claims and medical records. Explore resources related to medial meniscus tear, lateral meniscus tear, meniscus repair surgery, and meniscectomy.
Also known as
Tear of meniscus, current injury
Covers current tears of the knee meniscus due to injury.
Displaced meniscus, current injury
Describes a displaced meniscus from a current knee injury.
Internal derangement of knee
Includes various internal knee problems, sometimes involving meniscus tears.
Other internal knee injuries
Encompasses other specified internal knee injuries, including some meniscus tears.
Follow this step-by-step guide to choose the correct ICD-10 code.
Traumatic meniscus tear?
Yes
Which knee?
No
Degenerative tear?
When to use each related code
Description |
---|
Meniscus tear |
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear |
Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) tear |
Missing or incorrect laterality (right, left, bilateral) for meniscus tear diagnosis can lead to claim denials and inaccurate reporting.
Lack of documentation specifying the type of meniscus tear (e.g., bucket-handle, flap, radial) can impact coding accuracy and reimbursement.
Failing to distinguish between a traumatic and degenerative meniscus tear can lead to incorrect code assignment and affect quality reporting.
Patient presents with complaints consistent with a meniscus tear. Onset of symptoms, including knee pain, swelling, stiffness, clicking, popping, catching, or locking, began [duration] ago after [mechanism of injury, e.g., twisting injury while playing sports, insidious onset]. Patient reports [specific activity limitations, e.g., difficulty with stairs, squatting, prolonged standing]. Pain is localized to the [medial, lateral, or both] aspect of the knee and is characterized as [sharp, dull, aching, throbbing]. The patient rates the pain as [pain scale rating] out of 10. Physical examination reveals [positive, negative] McMurray's test, [positive, negative] Apley's grind test, and [positive, negative] Thessaly test. Joint line tenderness is [present, absent]. Range of motion is limited to [degrees of flexion and extension] with [pain, crepitus, or both] noted. Effusion is [present, absent]. No signs of ligamentous instability are noted. Differential diagnosis includes meniscus tear, ligamentous injury, osteoarthritis, patellofemoral pain syndrome. Preliminary diagnosis is meniscus tear. Plan includes obtaining knee MRI to confirm diagnosis and assess the extent of the tear. Conservative management options including rest, ice, compression, elevation, physical therapy, and NSAIDs will be discussed. Surgical intervention, such as meniscectomy or meniscus repair, may be considered depending on MRI findings and patient response to conservative treatment. Patient education provided regarding activity modification, pain management, and potential complications. Follow-up appointment scheduled in [duration] to review MRI results and discuss treatment plan.