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Radiculopathy vs sciatica

Date: Mar 11, 2025

Question:

When coding for a pain clinic, we are given a final diagnosis of lumbar radiculopathy and low back pain with sciatica. When researching these two conditions, it is stated that sciatica is a specific type of radiculopathy and that radiculopathy is a general term. When both of these diagnoses are given, what would be your recommendation for coding? I am thinking to only code lumbago with sciatica since it is described as being a more specific type of radiculopathy.

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