Chronic total occlusion of left superficial femoral artery
Chronic total occlusion of an extremity artery is coded with ICD-10-CM I70.92. [1] The underlying atherosclerotic manifestation in the left leg is coded with an additional I70.2x code based on documented clinical severity (intermittent claudication, rest pain, or ulceration/gangrene). [1], [2]
Chronic total occlusion code
- I70.92 – Chronic total occlusion of artery of the extremities [1]
Left leg atherosclerosis manifestation codes (required additional code)
Atherosclerosis of the left leg is coded by symptom category. [2]
- I70.212 – Atherosclerosis of native arteries of extremities with intermittent claudication, left leg [2]
- I70.222 – Atherosclerosis of native arteries of extremities with rest pain, left leg [3]
- I70.242 – Atherosclerosis of native arteries of left leg with ulceration of calf [4]
Key coding clarification
ICD-10-CM uses I70.92 specifically for chronic total occlusion and does not encode the superficial femoral artery location within I70.92. [1] The superficial femoral artery involvement is typically captured by the clinical documentation and may influence supporting codes if additional laterality/site-specific documentation exists, but I70.92 remains the chronic total occlusion code. [1]
Code selection based on available documentation
If the documentation includes only chronic total occlusion without specifying the left-leg symptom category, coding should include I70.92 plus the most specific available left-leg atherosclerosis (I70.2x) code supported by the documentation. [1], [2] If documentation specifies intermittent claudication, I70.212 should be used. [2] If documentation specifies rest pain, I70.222 should be used. [3] If documentation specifies ulceration, I70.242 should be used. [4]
Common pitfalls to avoid
Choosing only an I70.2x left-leg atherosclerosis code without adding I70.92 can omit the documented chronic total occlusion component. [1], [2] Choosing an I70.2x category that does not match the documented symptom severity (for example, using rest pain when ulceration is documented) can misclassify clinical severity. [2], [3], [4]
Target documentation for accurate coding
The symptom category for I70.212 vs I70.222 vs I70.242 should be supported by chart documentation of intermittent claudication, rest pain, or ulceration. [2], [3], [4]