M51Thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbosacral intervertebral disc disorders

M51 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbosacral intervertebral disc disorders. It belongs to block M50-M54 (other dorsopathies) and chapter 13 (diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue). It is a header code, so it can't be reported by itself; one of its 8 subcodes must be used instead.

To report this condition, pick the subcode that matches the documentation: M51.0 (myelopathy), M51.1 (radiculopathy), M51.2 (displacement), M51.3 (degeneration), M51.4 (nodes), M51.8 (disorders), M51.9 (disorder) and M51.A (defects).

The conditions in its Excludes2 note aren't part of M51, but may be coded alongside it if the patient has both: cervical and cervicothoracic disc disorders (M50.-) and sacral and sacrococcygeal disorders (M53.3).

It has been part of ICD-10-CM since the code set took effect on October 1, 2015 and hasn't changed since.