Congenital anomalies of the spine are common radiographic findings – common enough, in fact, that the developers of the ICD-9-CM coding system thought it necessary to assign diagnosis codes to a small group of them. This select list of anomalies is found in the ICD-9-CM under congenital disorders and codes 756.10 through 756.19. (Table 1)¹

Most doctors of chiropractic are familiar with these codes. This is evident by the frequency with which the codes appear in chiropractic records and on chiropractic claim forms. Unfortunately, some doctors are not aware that the use of these codes can be problematic. Congenital anomalies are not the best diagnoses to list as the reason(s) for care.

Use of the ICD-9-CM for even a short period of time brings most practitioners to the realization that some conditions have not been assigned codes. Facet syndrome is an example. While the condition is clinically significant and frequently identified, it does not have an assigned code. The practitioner is thus forced to use a code with a description close to facet syndrome or an unspecified code, usually 724.9. The code 724.2 could also be used. (Table 2)¹An accurate diagnosis is often communicated inaccurately.

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