Juvenile osteochondrosis of the metatarsus, right foot — avascular necrosis or disrupted ossification affecting one or more metatarsal bones in a skeletally immature patient on the right side.

Documentation tips

What should appear in the chart to support M92.71.

Source · Editorial brief grounded in 5 cited references ↓

• Document laterality explicitly as 'right foot' — 'right metatarsus' or 'right forefoot' alone may be insufficient for code assignment without anatomic correlation.
• Specify the metatarsal involved (second vs. fifth vs. other) to support clinical correlation with Freiberg's or Iselin's eponyms, even though the code doesn't require eponym-level specificity.
• Record patient age and skeletal maturity status (open vs. closed physes on imaging) to justify 'juvenile' classification — adult osteochondropathy maps elsewhere.
• Document imaging findings by modality: plain radiograph findings (metatarsal head flattening, fragmentation, increased density, joint space changes) or MRI findings (bone marrow edema, avascular signal) that confirm the diagnosis.
• Note whether the condition is active or a residual deformity, since only active juvenile osteochondrosis supports M92.71.

Related CPT procedures

Procedure codes commonly billed with M92.71. 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 M92.71 and adjacent codes.

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

• Defaulting to M92.70 (unspecified foot) when the operative or clinical note clearly states 'right' — always capture documented laterality.
• Using M92.71 for adult patients with Freiberg's disease: the 'juvenile' classification requires a skeletally immature patient; adult active or residual disease maps to different categories.
• Confusing Iselin's disease (fifth metatarsal base osteochondrosis) with an acute avulsion fracture — the apophysitis is M92.71, whereas a true fracture codes to S92- with the appropriate 7th character.
• Failing to report both M92.71 and M92.72 when bilateral metatarsal osteochondrosis is documented — there is no single bilateral code under M92.7.
• Selecting a tarsus code (M92.61 for right ankle) when the pathology is metatarsal — tarsus and metatarsus are distinct anatomic regions with separate subcategories.

Clinical context

Source · Editorial summary grounded in 5 cited references ↓

Sibling codes

Other billable codes under M92.7 (laterality / anatomic variants).