Skip to main content

M96.4 ICD-10-CM Code: Postsurgical lordosis

Billing Status: YES. This is a valid, specific, and billable ICD-10-CM reference.

Coding at a Glance

Tabular directives
5 Excludes2

Inpatient Payment Groups (MS-DRG)

Potential MS-DRG participation — not a DRG assignment.

MS-DRGs this diagnosis helps define, as principal or secondary, per the CMS ICD-10-CM/PCS MS-DRG Definitions Manual v43, Appendix B.

  • MS-DRG 456 — SPINAL FUSION EXCEPT CERVICAL WITH SPINAL CURVATURE, MALIGNANCY, INFECTION OR EXTENSIVE FUSIONS WITH MCC (MDC 08)
  • MS-DRG 457 — SPINAL FUSION EXCEPT CERVICAL WITH SPINAL CURVATURE, MALIGNANCY, INFECTION OR EXTENSIVE FUSIONS WITH CC (MDC 08)
  • MS-DRG 458 — SPINAL FUSION EXCEPT CERVICAL WITH SPINAL CURVATURE, MALIGNANCY, INFECTION OR EXTENSIVE FUSIONS WITHOUT CC/MCC (MDC 08)
  • MS-DRG 551 — MEDICAL BACK PROBLEMS WITH MCC (MDC 08)
  • MS-DRG 552 — MEDICAL BACK PROBLEMS WITHOUT MCC (MDC 08)

A diagnosis appearing in a group's logic does not by itself determine the DRG assigned to a stay; the grouper uses the full claim.

Coding instructions

Official Tabular Instructional Notes: the inclusion, exclusion and sequencing notes published for M96.4 in the official ICD-10-CM tabular list, quoted as published.

Source: CMS/CDC — ICD-10-CM Tabular ListRelease: FY2026Effective: October 1, 2025

Notes without a marker are published on M96.4 itself; “inherited from” names the category or block whose note applies here.

Excludes2 — Not Included Here

Conditions not covered by this code, but which may be reported alongside it when both are present.

Source: inherited from M96

Coder workflow for M96.4

MedCoder structured workflow — derived from this code’s own official record

Documentation check

The provider’s diagnostic statement
Codes are assigned from the provider’s documented diagnosis, not from clinical criteria, test values or a medication list (Guidelines I.A.19).

Official instructions as workflow

  • Excludes2 — not part of M96.4(5 notes)

    Coding workflow: The conditions named in this note are not included in M96.4. When the record documents both, both may be reported; the note is a boundary, not a prohibition.

    CompareM02.0, T84, M80, M97

    See the official tabular notes · Guidelines I.A.12.b

Every row is derived from this code’s own record — its title, tabular notes, 7th-character family and same-category siblings — with fixed MedCoder wording; nothing is inferred about a patient. The official notes and guideline text are in the sections each row links to, and they control.

Code Overview

Postsurgical lordosis is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (M96.4).

MedCoder summary Summary composed by MedCoder from this code's official ICD-10-CM record. The tabular instructional notes themselves appear verbatim below.

Indexed Clinical Terms (3)

Official source data — entries quoted as published, in the Index’s own lookup phrasing

Clinical term phrases from the official ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries that map to this code. These are alphabetic-index entries shown as the Index writes them — lookup phrasing, not necessarily the wording of a final diagnosis.

Verify Before Coding

  • No Medicare Code Editor or MS-DRG Definitions Manual restrictions apply to this code.

From the code registry, the Medicare Code Editor, and the MS-DRG Definitions Manual. Check it against a full claim in Claim Check.

Relationships & Classification

MedCoder structured relationships — computed from published CMS and AHRQ datasets

Other codes that name M96.4 or its code family, from the CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes. Tabular-note edges are stored at the code family level that carries each note.

Referenced by 12 Excludes1 notes: M40 — Kyphosis and lordosis (via M96.-), M86 — Osteomyelitis (via M96.-), M86-M90 — Other osteopathies (M86-M90) (via M96.-), M87 — Osteonecrosis (via M96.-), M88 — Osteitis deformans [Paget's disease of bone] (via M96.-), M89 — Other disorders of bone (via M96.-), M90 — Osteopathies in diseases classified elsewhere (via M96.-), M91 — Juvenile osteochondrosis of hip and pelvis (via M96.-), M91-M94 — Chondropathies (M91-M94) (via M96.-), M92 — Other juvenile osteochondrosis (via M96.-), M93 — Other osteochondropathies (via M96.-), M94 — Other disorders of cartilage (via M96.-).

These codes’ tabular lists mark this diagnosis as mutually exclusive — not reported together unless the conditions are documented as unrelated.

Referenced by 11 Excludes2 notes across 2 chapters: M95 — Other acquired deformities of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (via M96.-), T80 — Complications following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injection (via M96.-), T80-T88 — Complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified (T80-T88) (via M96.-), T81 — Complications of procedures, not elsewhere classified (via M96.-), T82 — Complications of cardiac and vascular prosthetic devices, implants and grafts (via M96.-), T83 — Complications of genitourinary prosthetic devices, implants and grafts (via M96.-), T84 — Complications of internal orthopedic prosthetic devices, implants and grafts (via M96.-), T85 — Complications of other internal prosthetic devices, implants and grafts (via M96.-), T86 — Complications of transplanted organs and tissue (via M96.-), T87 — Complications peculiar to reattachment and amputation (via M96.-), T88 — Other complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified (via M96.-).

These codes’ tabular lists name this diagnosis as distinct — both may be reported when both are documented.

MS-DRG Grouper Relationships (FY2026)

Potential MS-DRG participation — not a DRG assignment.

FY2026 MS-DRG: not on the CMS CC/MCC list — as a secondary diagnosis this code does not change MS-DRG severity for that release.

Named in the grouper logic of 5 MS-DRGs: DRG 456 (MDC 08), DRG 457 (MDC 08), DRG 458 (MDC 08), DRG 551 (MDC 08), DRG 552 (MDC 08).

From the CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (Appendices B and C). Actual DRG assignment depends on the complete claim.

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):MUS037 — Postprocedural or postoperative musculoskeletal system complication (default); MUS022 — Scoliosis and other postural dorsopathic deformities.

Clinical Classifications Software Refined (CCSR) for ICD-10-CM Diagnoses. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Related Codes

Same clinical category (CCSR)

AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software groups these diagnoses under the same clinical categories (Postprocedural or postoperative musculoskeletal system complication, Scoliosis and other postural dorsopathic deformities).

M42.15 — Adult osteochondrosis of spine, thoracolumbar region, M42.16 — Adult osteochondrosis of spine, lumbar region, M42.17 — Adult osteochondrosis of spine, lumbosacral region, M42.18 — Adult osteochondrosis of spine, sacral and sacrococcygeal region, M42.19 — Adult osteochondrosis of spine, multiple sites in spine, M42.9 — Spinal osteochondrosis, unspecified, M96.0 — Pseudarthrosis after fusion or arthrodesis, M96.1 — Postlaminectomy syndrome, not elsewhere classified, M96.2 — Postradiation kyphosis, M96.3 — Postlaminectomy kyphosis, M96.5 — Postradiation scoliosis, M96.621 — Fracture of humerus following insertion of orthopedic implant, joint prosthesis, or bone plate, right arm, M96.622 — Fracture of humerus following insertion of orthopedic implant, joint prosthesis, or bone plate, left arm, M96.629 — Fracture of humerus following insertion of orthopedic implant, joint prosthesis, or bone plate, unspecified arm, M96.631 — Fracture of radius or ulna following insertion of orthopedic implant, joint prosthesis, or bone plate, right arm, M96.632 — Fracture of radius or ulna following insertion of orthopedic implant, joint prosthesis, or bone plate, left arm, M96.639 — Fracture of radius or ulna following insertion of orthopedic implant, joint prosthesis, or bone plate, unspecified arm, M96.65 — Fracture of pelvis following insertion of orthopedic implant, joint prosthesis, or bone plate, M96.661 — Fracture of femur following insertion of orthopedic implant, joint prosthesis, or bone plate, right leg, M96.662 — Fracture of femur following insertion of orthopedic implant, joint prosthesis, or bone plate, left leg, +117 more

Same Index main term, other category

The ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries files this code under the main term “Lordosis”; these codes share that main term but sit in a different category of the Tabular List.

A18.01 — Tuberculosis of spine (tuberculous), E64.3 — Sequelae of rickets (rachitic), M40.40 — Postural lordosis, site unspecified (specified type NEC), M40.45 — Postural lordosis, thoracolumbar region (specified type NEC, thoracolumbar region), M40.46 — Postural lordosis, lumbar region (specified type NEC, lumbar region), M40.47 — Postural lordosis, lumbosacral region (specified type NEC, lumbosacral region), M40.50 — Lordosis, unspecified, site unspecified, M40.55 — Lordosis, unspecified, thoracolumbar region (thoracolumbar region), M40.56 — Lordosis, unspecified, lumbar region (lumbar region), M40.57 — Lordosis, unspecified, lumbosacral region (lumbosacral region), Q76.425 — Congenital lordosis, thoracolumbar region (congenital, thoracolumbar region), Q76.426 — Congenital lordosis, lumbar region (congenital, lumbar region), Q76.427 — Congenital lordosis, lumbosacral region (congenital, lumbosacral region), Q76.428 — Congenital lordosis, sacral and sacrococcygeal region (congenital, sacral region), Q76.429 — Congenital lordosis, unspecified region (congenital)

Contextual Map

Every relationship of M96.4 in one view: hierarchy, official tabular instructions in both directions, clinical classification, risk adjustment, MS-DRG participation, index terms and change history — each edge carrying the CMS source it derives from.

Run M96.4 with these 16 related codes in Claim Check

Hierarchy

Referenced by Excludes1 notes (12)

Referenced by Excludes2 notes (11)

Clinical classification (CCSR)

MS-DRG Grouper

MDC crossing

  • MDC 08 — Diseases and Disorders of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue[MDC crossing]: “Diseases and Disorders of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue — the grouper's crossing between diagnoses and procedures: a principal diagnosis sets the MDC, and same-MDC procedures move the stay to its surgical DRGs. 18,508 same-MDC procedures group here; browse them on the MDC page.”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual · FY2026

Index entries

  • Complication (s) (from) (of), musculoskeletal system, postoperative (postprocedural), lordosis[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Complication (s) (from) (of), orthopedic, postprocedural, postlaminectomy syndrome NEC, lordosis[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Lordosis, postsurgical[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026

Nearest codes (40)

Change history

  • FY2016 — In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption [Change history]— CMS release files (code change ledger) · icd10cm-fy2016

Sources for this page

Codes, titles, notes, index terms and mappings on this page are transcribed from the datasets below. Relationships MedCoder computed and text MedCoder wrote are labelled where they appear.

Code, title, tabular notes and index terms Official source data
CMS/CDC ICD-10-CM FY2026 tabular list, index and tables, effective October 1, 2025 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Claim edits Official source data
CMS Definitions of Medicare Code Edits — v43.1 (April 2026) Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Inpatient payment groups Official source data
CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (incl. Appendix B diagnosis index, Appendix C CC/MCC list, Appendix E procedure index) and IPPS Final Rule tables — v43 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Change history and date-of-service validity Official source data
CMS ICD-10-CM release addenda, ingested release by release into the change ledger Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Comparisons, relationships and the contextual map MedCoder structured relationship
Computed by MedCoder from the tabular notes and tables above; every derived relationship is marked as derived where it appears
Summary and FAQ answers MedCoder explanation
Written by MedCoder to explain the sources above: drafted with AI assistance, checked by a person against the release files, and labelled as MedCoder text where it appears. Not official text.

Labels on this page: Official source data · MedCoder structured relationship · MedCoder explanation. How to read the labels · All data sources and release dates

Change history

  • FY2016 — October 1, 2015
    In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption
    Postsurgical lordosis

No changes since FY2016 — additions, deletions, description changes and billable-status changes are tracked through FY2027 (effective October 1, 2026), and none are recorded for this code. Note changes are tracked from FY2027 only.

Nearest Codes in This Family

Official ICD-10-CM classifications closest to M96.4 in its code family, with their registry titles.

View all codes in the M96 family