M54.5Low back pain

M54.5 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for low back pain. It belongs to category M54 (dorsalgia), 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 3 subcodes must be used instead.

Within M54 (dorsalgia), M54.5 is specifically for low back pain. Related codes cover panniculitis affecting regions of neck and back (M54.0), radiculopathy (M54.1), Cervicalgia (M54.2), sciatica (M54.3), Lumbago with sciatica (M54.4), pain in thoracic spine (M54.6), other dorsalgia (M54.8) and unspecified (M54.9).

To report this condition, pick the subcode that matches the documentation: M54.50 (unspecified), M54.51 (pain) and M54.59 (pain).

Don't report M54.5 together with the conditions in its Excludes1 note: intervertebral disc degeneration, lumbar region with discogenic back pain only (M51.360), intervertebral disc degeneration, lumbosacral region with discogenic back pain only (M51.370), low back strain (S39.012), lumbago due to intervertebral disc displacement (M51.2-) and 1 more.

It has been part of ICD-10-CM since the code set took effect on October 1, 2015, and changed in FY2022 (expanded into subcodes).

Before ICD-10, this condition was coded in ICD-9-CM as 724.2 (Lumbago).