Juvenile osteochondrosis of the humerus, right arm — a pediatric-onset chondropathy affecting the right humeral epiphysis or capitulum, classified under ICD-10-CM category M92 (Other juvenile osteochondrosis).

Documentation tips

What should appear in the chart to support M92.01.

Source · Editorial brief grounded in 5 cited references ↓

• Laterality must be explicit — document 'right arm' or 'right humerus' by name, not just 'dominant side' or 'affected extremity.'
• Identify whether the condition involves the capitulum (Panner disease) or the humeral head (Haas disease) — both map to M92.01 for the right side, but naming the eponym in the note strengthens clinical specificity and audit defense.
• Record the patient's age at onset; this is a juvenile osteochondrosis code and is appropriate for skeletally immature patients. Adult-onset humeral chondropathy requires a different code.
• Document imaging findings — plain radiograph changes (fragmentation, flattening, or sclerosis of the capitulum or humeral head) or MRI findings confirming avascular change support medical necessity.
• Note conservative care history (activity restriction, physical therapy, immobilization) prior to any procedural intervention, as payers may require documented non-operative management.
• If bilateral disease is present, code each side separately — M92.01 for the right and M92.02 for the left. There is no bilateral code under M92.0.

Related CPT procedures

Procedure codes commonly billed with M92.01. Linking the right diagnosis to the right procedure is what establishes medical necessity.

Source · CMS LCDs · AAOS specialty guidance · claims-pattern analysis

Common coding pitfalls

The recurring mistakes coders make with M92.01 and adjacent codes.

Source · Editorial brief grounded in CDC ICD-10-CM tabular guidance, AAOS coding references, and cited references ↓

• Submitting the non-billable parent code M92.0 instead of M92.01 — payers will reject M92.0; always use the laterality-specific child code.
• Using M92.01 for adult patients: this is a juvenile osteochondrosis code. For skeletally mature patients with humeral chondral pathology, review osteoarthritis or osteochondral defect codes instead.
• Confusing humeral osteochondrosis (M92.01) with radius/ulna osteochondrosis (M92.11) — Panner and Haas disease are humeral conditions; forearm osteochondrosis codes differently.
• Failing to distinguish right (M92.01) from left (M92.02) when the note documents laterality — submitting M92.00 (unspecified) when laterality is documented is a specificity downcode that can trigger ADR.
• Co-coding M92.01 with a postprocedural chondropathy code (M96.-) for the same site — the Excludes1 annotation prohibits this combination.

Clinical context

Source · Editorial summary grounded in 5 cited references ↓

Sibling codes

Other billable codes under M92.0 (laterality / anatomic variants).