Hello all,
I've been struggling to determine when a sign or symptom should be coded separately versus considered part of a definitive diagnosis.
At first, I tried online searches with the phrases "common symptoms of condition" and "integral symptoms of condition", but the results were inconsistent and often incomplete.
I also searched for the condition in Merck's manual (https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional), but some of the phrasings can be unclear. (Example: under nasal fracture, the signs and symptoms section shows "septal deviation, and nasal obstruction may be present." The phrasing of "may be present" makes it hard to tell whether those conditions are integral or not. After further research, it seems septal deviation is not integral but nasal obstruction is.
What has been helping recently is searching for "clinical manifestations of condition."
I know Module IV will cover pathophysiology, which should go over signs and symptoms of diseases in depth. But until then, I wanted to share my approach in case it helps anyone else who's unsure of when to code signs and symptoms in ICD-10-CM.
If anyone has any other tips or resources, feel free to share. It would be much appreciated!