M25.562: Pain in left knee
Billable ICD-10-CM code, FY2027
What M25.562 covers
M25.562 is for pain in the left knee with no more specific diagnosis documented. It is a symptom code and often appears before imaging or a specialist visit confirms the cause.
Primary care, orthopedics and physical therapy use it. The right knee is M25.561 and an unspecified side is M25.569. When the cause is found, a diagnosis code usually replaces it, such as M17.12 for primary osteoarthritis of the left knee.
Billing and coding notes
The side must match the documentation. There is no bilateral knee pain code, so pain in both knees is reported as M25.561 and M25.562 together. Avoid M25.569 when the note names a side.
If the knee pain follows an injury, a chapter 19 injury code with the right seventh character is usually the better choice. Knee pain that is part of a confirmed diagnosis is not added as a separate code.
Related codes under M25.56
Questions about M25.562
Is M25.562 billable?
Yes. M25.562 is a complete code with laterality built in.
What is the difference between M25.562 and M25.569?
M25.562 is the left knee. M25.569 is knee pain with the side not documented. Use the side-specific code whenever the record says which knee.
ICD-10-CM in CloudMedico
In CloudMedico, a visit's diagnoses come from the current ICD-10-CM list. For US practices, the visit flags a code that isn't billable on its date, and a superbill made from an invoice carries the visit's diagnoses.
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