ICD-10-CM › M00-M99 › M20-M25 › M25.5 Pain in joint › M25.54

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, FY2017 onwards. It has never been valid for submission on its own.

Submit one of these 3 more specific codes instead:

• M25.541 Pain in joints of right hand
• M25.542 Pain in joints of left hand
• M25.549 Pain in joints of unspecified hand

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 M25 Other joint disorder, not elsewhere classified

Excludes2 - not included here

• abnormality of gait and mobility (R26.-)
• acquired deformities of limb (M20-M21)
• calcification of bursa (M71.4-)
• calcification of shoulder (joint) (M75.3)
• calcification of tendon (M65.2-)
• difficulty in walking (R26.2)
• temporomandibular joint disorder (M26.6-)

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.

• Pain
• Arthralgia
• Arthrodynia
• Lesion > joint
• Polyarthralgia
• Disorder > articulation
• Disorder > joint > pain
• Disease, diseased > joint
• Pain > metacarpophalangeal
• Syndrome > complex regional pain
• Pain > joint > hand
• Pain > joint > finger

Codes in the same group

Code	Description	Status
M25.50	Pain in unspecified joint	Valid
M25.51	Pain in shoulder	Not billable
M25.52	Pain in elbow	Not billable
M25.53	Pain in wrist	Not billable
M25.55	Pain in hip	Not billable
M25.56	Pain in knee	Not billable
M25.57	Pain in ankle and joints of foot	Not billable
M25.59	Pain in other specified joint	Valid