Chondromalacia

Not billableICD-10-CM diagnosis code.

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 10 more specific codes instead:

M94.20 Chondromalacia, unspecified site
M94.21 Chondromalacia, shoulder (also a header)
M94.22 Chondromalacia, elbow (also a header)
M94.23 Chondromalacia, wrist (also a header)
M94.24 Chondromalacia, joints of hand (also a header)
M94.25 Chondromalacia, hip (also a header)
M94.26 Chondromalacia, knee (also a header)
M94.27 Chondromalacia, ankle and joints of foot (also a header)
M94.28 Chondromalacia, other site
M94.29 Chondromalacia, multiple sites

What has happened to this code

Every change the publisher made, from 2012 to now. Entries marked draft are from the pre-implementation releases: ICD-10 took effect on 1 October 2015, so nothing before FY2016 was ever valid on a claim.

FY2012 Added to the draft code set draft Chondromalacia

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 the M91-M94 section Chondropathies (M91-M94)

Excludes1 - never coded here

postprocedural chondropathies (M96.-)

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.

Softening > cartilage

Codes in the same group

Code	Description	Status
M94.0	Chondrocostal junction syndrome [Tietze]	Valid
M94.1	Relapsing polychondritis	Valid
M94.3	Chondrolysis	Not billable
M94.8	Other specified disorders of cartilage	Not billable
M94.9	Disorder of cartilage, unspecified	Valid