Q65.6 ICD-10-CM Code: Congenital unstable hip

Coding instructions

Official Tabular Instructional Notes: the inclusion, exclusion and sequencing notes published for Q65.6 in the official ICD-10-CM tabular list, quoted as published.

Source: CMS/CDC — ICD-10-CM Tabular ListRelease: FY2027Effective: October 1, 2026

Notes without a marker are published on Q65.6 itself; “inherited from” names the category or block whose note applies here.

Coder workflow for Q65.6

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

Before you code Q65.6

1. Check the Excludes1 note: if the documentation supports a condition named there, do not simply proceed with Q65.6. Excludes1 conditions are not reported together with this code unless the record shows they are unrelated (Guidelines I.A.12.a).

   See the official tabular notes

Choose the right path

1. Does the documentation support a condition named in Q65.6’s Excludes1 note?
   Yes → Do not simply proceed: review the excluded code. Both are reported only when the record shows the two conditions are unrelated.
   No → Continue.

   ReviewR29.4

Consider Q65.6. Then confirm the code is valid for the date of service in the Verify section.

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

• Excludes1 — check before selecting Q65.6(1 note)

  Coding workflow: If the documentation supports a condition named in this note, do not simply proceed with Q65.6: the two are not reported together. The one exception is when the record shows the two conditions are unrelated to each other.

  CompareR29.4

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

Coding decision scenarios

Pattern scenarios for this code’s structure — decision rules, not clinical cases

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.

Indexed Clinical Terms (5)

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.

• Dislocatable hip, congenital
• Predislocation status of hip at birth
• Preluxation, hip, congenital
• Subluxatable hip
• Unstable, hip (congenital)

Don’t confuse Q65.6 with…

MedCoder analysis — pairs from this code’s official notes, distinctions written by MedCoder

The codes most likely to be picked instead of Q65.6 — named in its own official notes, or sharing its laterality or encounter family — with what separates them and which documentation moves the case. Each links to the full comparison.

• R29.4— Excludes1 conflict (Excludes1 — generally not reported together)

  Not coded here — the tabular list excludes this pair for the same encounter.

  Not reported together with this code, except where the two conditions are documented as unrelated.

  What moves you there: Documentation of clicking hip moves the case to R29.4; the two are not reported together unless documented as unrelated.

  Full comparison: Q65.6 vs R29.4 →

• Q65.2— Specificity relationship (Review)

  Overlapping diagnoses in the same category.

  Overlapping codes in the same category — the documentation decides which is the more specific fit.

  What moves you there: A record that documents no more than “Congenital dislocation of hip, unspecified” takes Q65.2; specificity in the record moves it back here.

  Full comparison: Q65.6 vs Q65.2 →

Relationships are read from this code's own official notes, its laterality siblings and its encounter family; the wording of each distinction is MedCoder editorial, and the documentation named in each “what moves you there” line is the official note phrase or sibling title itself. Source: CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes; ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a.

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 Q65.6 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 3 Excludes1 notes across 2 chapters: M21 — Other acquired deformities of limbs (via Q65.-), M24.3 — Pathological dislocation of joint, not elsewhere classified (via Q65.-), R29.4 — Clicking hip (via Q65.-).

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

Referenced by 1 Excludes2 note: M95 — Other acquired deformities of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (via Q65.-).

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

MS-DRG Grouper Relationships (FY2027)

Potential MS-DRG participation — not a DRG assignment.

FY2027 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 3 MS-DRGs: DRG 564 (MDC 08), DRG 565 (MDC 08), DRG 566 (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):MAL008 — Musculoskeletal congenital conditions (default).

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 category (Musculoskeletal congenital conditions).

Q65.00 — Congenital dislocation of unspecified hip, unilateral, Q65.01 — Congenital dislocation of right hip, unilateral, Q65.02 — Congenital dislocation of left hip, unilateral, Q65.1 — Congenital dislocation of hip, bilateral, Q65.2 — Congenital dislocation of hip, unspecified, Q65.30 — Congenital partial dislocation of unspecified hip, unilateral, Q65.31 — Congenital partial dislocation of right hip, unilateral, Q65.32 — Congenital partial dislocation of left hip, unilateral, Q65.4 — Congenital partial dislocation of hip, bilateral, Q65.5 — Congenital partial dislocation of hip, unspecified, Q65.81 — Congenital coxa valga, Q65.82 — Congenital coxa vara, Q65.89 — Other specified congenital deformities of hip, Q65.9 — Congenital deformity of hip, unspecified, Q66.0 — Congenital talipes equinovarus, Q66.00 — Congenital talipes equinovarus, unspecified foot, Q66.01 — Congenital talipes equinovarus, right foot, Q66.02 — Congenital talipes equinovarus, left foot, Q66.1 — Congenital talipes calcaneovarus, Q66.10 — Congenital talipes calcaneovarus, unspecified foot, +245 more

Same Index main term, other category

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

M96.89 — Other intraoperative and postprocedural complications and disorders of the musculoskeletal system (joint, secondary to removal of joint prosthesis), O32.0 — Maternal care for unstable lie (lie)

Contextual Map

Every relationship of Q65.6 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 Q65.6 with these 4 related codes in Claim Check

Hierarchy

• Q00-QA1 — Chapter 17: Congenital Malformations, Deformations and Chromosomal Abnormalities (Q00-QA1) (Q00-QA1)[Hierarchy]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026
• Q65-Q79 — Congenital malformations and deformations of the musculoskeletal system[Hierarchy]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026

Referenced by Excludes1 notes

• M21 — Other acquired deformities of limbs[Excludes1](via Q65.-): “congenital deformities and malformations of limbs (Q65-Q66, Q68-Q74)”— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes · icd10cm-fy2026
• M24.3 — Pathological dislocation of joint, not elsewhere classified[Excludes1](via Q65.-): “congenital dislocation or displacement of joint- see congenital malformations and deformations of the musculoskeletal system (Q65-Q79)”— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes · icd10cm-fy2026
• R29.4 — Clicking hip[Excludes1](via Q65.-): “congenital deformities of hip (Q65.-)”— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes · icd10cm-fy2026

Referenced by Excludes2 notes

• M95 — Other acquired deformities of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue[Excludes2](via Q65.-): “congenital malformations and deformations of the musculoskeletal system (Q65-Q79)”— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes · icd10cm-fy2026

Clinical classification (CCSR)

• MAL008 — Musculoskeletal congenital conditions[CCSR]— AHRQ CCSR for ICD-10-CM Diagnoses (HCUP)

MS-DRG Grouper

• DRG 564 — OTHER MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE DIAGNOSES WITH MCC[MS-DRG]: “OTHER MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE DIAGNOSES WITH MCC (MDC 08)”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (Appendix B) · FY2027
• DRG 565 — OTHER MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE DIAGNOSES WITH CC[MS-DRG]: “OTHER MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE DIAGNOSES WITH CC (MDC 08)”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (Appendix B) · FY2027
• DRG 566 — OTHER MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE DIAGNOSES WITHOUT CC/MCC[MS-DRG]: “OTHER MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE DIAGNOSES WITHOUT CC/MCC (MDC 08)”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (Appendix B) · FY2027

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. 18,439 same-MDC procedures group here; browse them on the MDC page.”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual · FY2027

Index entries

• Dislocatable hip, congenital[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
• Predislocation status of hip at birth[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
• Preluxation, hip, congenital[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
• Subluxatable hip[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
• Unstable, hip (congenital)[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026

Nearest codes (18)

• Q65 — Congenital deformities of hip[Sibling]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026
• Q65.0 — Congenital dislocation of hip, unilateral[Sibling]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026
• Q65.00 — Congenital dislocation of unspecified hip, unilateral[Sibling]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026
• Q65.01 — Congenital dislocation of right hip, unilateral[Sibling]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026
• Q65.02 — Congenital dislocation of left hip, unilateral[Sibling]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026
• Q65.1 — Congenital dislocation of hip, bilateral[Sibling]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026
• Q65.2 — Congenital dislocation of hip, unspecified[Sibling]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026
• Q65.3 — Congenital partial dislocation of hip, unilateral[Sibling]— CMS ICD-10-CM tabular structure · icd10cm-fy2026
• and 10 more

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 FY2027 tabular list, index and tables, effective October 1, 2026 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page

Claim edits Official source data

CMS Definitions of Medicare Code Edits — v44.0 (October 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 — v44 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

Nearest Codes in This Family

Official ICD-10-CM classifications closest to Q65.6 in its code family, with their registry titles.

• Q65.30 — Congenital partial dislocation of unspecified hip, unilateral
• Q65.31 — Congenital partial dislocation of right hip, unilateral
• Q65.32 — Congenital partial dislocation of left hip, unilateral
• Q65.4 — Congenital partial dislocation of hip, bilateral
• Q65.5 — Congenital partial dislocation of hip, unspecified
• Q65.8 — Other congenital deformities of hip
• Q65.81 — Congenital coxa valga
• Q65.82 — Congenital coxa vara
• Q65.89 — Other specified congenital deformities of hip
• Q65.9 — Congenital deformity of hip, unspecified

View all codes in the Q65 family