ICD-10-CM › M00-M99 › M20-M25 › M21.8 Other specified acquired... › M21.83

This code exists but cannot be submitted on its own. It groups the more specific codes beneath it.

A category header for its whole life, FY2016 onwards. It has never been valid for submission on its own.

Submit one of these 3 more specific codes instead:

• M21.831 Other specified acquired deformities of right forearm
• M21.832 Other specified acquired deformities of left forearm
• M21.839 Other specified acquired deformities of unspecified forearm

What has happened to this code

Official coding rules

Published by CDC for FY2027. A rule attached to a category binds every code beneath it, so the rules inherited from this code's ancestors are shown with the code they come from.

Inherited from M21 Other acquired deformities of limbs

Excludes1 - never coded here

• acquired absence of limb (Z89.-)
• congenital absence of limbs (Q71-Q73)
• congenital deformities and malformations of limbs (Q65-Q66, Q68-Q74)

Excludes2 - not included here

• acquired deformities of fingers or toes (M20.-)
• coxa plana (M91.2)

Inherited from the M20-M25 section Other joint disorders (M20-M25)

Excludes2 - not included here

• joints of the spine (M40-M54)

How CDC's index refers to this code

Wording from the official alphabetic index. Much of it appears nowhere in the code description, which is why a search for the everyday phrase so often finds nothing.

• Plus
• Minus
• Drift, ulnar
• Bowing > radius
• Bruck's disease
• Bowing > forearm
• Angulation > wrist
• Deflection > radius
• Deformity > rotation
• Deformity > intrinsic minus or plus
• Deformity > limb > specified type NEC > forearm

Codes in the same group

Code	Description	Status
M21.80	Other specified acquired deformities of unspecified limb	Valid
M21.82	Other specified acquired deformities of upper arm	Not billable
M21.85	Other specified acquired deformities of thigh	Not billable
M21.86	Other specified acquired deformities of lower leg	Not billable