M42.00 — Juvenile osteochondrosis of spine, site unspecified

BillableUnspecified

Is M42.00 billable?

Yes, but M42.00 is an unspecified code. M42.00 is a valid, billable ICD-10-CM code for encounters from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. However, M42.00 is an unspecified or catch-all code. Payers apply additional scrutiny to unspecified codes and many deny them when the medical record supports a more specific option, so check the documentation before selecting M42.00 — the more specific alternatives are listed below.

More specific alternatives

M42.00 at a glance

Code	M42.00
Description	Juvenile osteochondrosis of spine, site unspecified
Billable	Yes
Code set	ICD-10-CM FY2027
Valid for encounters	October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027

Which MS-DRGs does M42.00 group to?

M42.00 sits in MDC 08 and helps define the logic of 3 MS-DRGs (version 44, FY2027). Which one a stay actually groups to also depends on procedures and secondary diagnoses.

456Spinal Fusion Except Cervical with Spinal Curvature, Malignancy, or Infection with MCCsurgical
457Spinal Fusion Except Cervical with Spinal Curvature, Malignancy, or Infection with CCsurgical
458Spinal Fusion Except Cervical with Spinal Curvature, Malignancy, or Infection without CC/MCCsurgical

How is M42.00 listed in the Alphabetic Index?

These are the routes through the Alphabetic Index that lead to M42.00. They show the wording a clinician may have documented, which often differs from the Tabular description.

Osteochondrosis › juvenile, juvenilis › spine

Excludes1 — never code together — inherited from M42.0

The conditions below can never be reported together with M42.00 on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.

postural kyphosis (M40.0)

Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from Chapter 13

The conditions below are not part of M42.00, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, M42.00 and the excluded code may both be reported.

arthropathic psoriasis (L40.5-)
certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P04-P96)
certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
compartment syndrome (traumatic) (T79.A-)
complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A)
congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)
endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E88)
injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)
neoplasms (C00-D49)
symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R94)

How long has M42.00 existed?

M42.00 has been in ICD-10-CM since at least FY2016, the earliest fiscal year on record here.

Derived from the official order files for FY2016–FY2026. FY2017 and FY2020 publish no order file, so those years are not covered.