04.01.06
April Question of the Month
Q: If a 1-year-0ld patient sustains TBSA 21% burns of 2nd degree with face involvement, what is the correct code to use?
[Special thanks to Claire Adorjan-Byrne for this month’s submission.]
A: There are two correct answers for this question in AIS 98. The code 912020.4 indicates burns to a child less than 5 years of age. The code 912022.4 indicates facial involvement. It is up to the coder to decide which of the two is more important to note their choice of code. Note that the severity code (4) is the same.
AIS 2005 eliminates the confusion by removing the descriptors for face/hand/genitalia involvement.
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