G83.83
BillablePosterior cord syndrome
HCC Category Mapping
V28HCC 254 — Monoplegia, Other Paralytic Syndromes
0.000V24HCC 104 — Monoplegia, Other Paralytic Syndromes
0.304ESRDHCC 104 — Monoplegia, Other Paralytic Syndromes
0.000What This Code Means
A spinal cord injury affecting the back portion of the spinal cord, causing loss of position and vibration sense while preserving pain and temperature sensation and motor function.
Coding Tips
- •Document the specific spinal cord level involved in the injury or disease process
- •Identify the underlying cause to support complete clinical documentation
Clinical Significance
Posterior cord syndrome involves damage to the posterior columns of the spinal cord, resulting in loss of proprioception, vibration sense, and fine touch while preserving motor function and pain/temperature sensation. This is the least common and generally least disabling of the incomplete spinal cord injury patterns, but it causes significant gait ataxia and difficulty with fine motor coordination due to loss of position sense. It can result from vitamin B12 deficiency, tabes dorsalis, or trauma.
Documentation Requirements
- ✓Explicit documentation of posterior cord syndrome
- ✓Description of posterior column dysfunction (loss of position sense, vibration, fine touch)
- ✓Preservation of motor function documented
- ✓Spinal cord level of involvement
- ✓Underlying etiology (vitamin B12 deficiency, syphilis, trauma, tumor, demyelination)
- ✓Gait assessment showing sensory ataxia
- ✓Active treatment plan addressing the underlying cause
Commonly Confused Codes
G83.82 Anterior cord syndrome — opposite pattern (motor loss with preserved proprioception)G83.81 Brown-Sequard syndrome — hemisection with crossed deficitsE53.8 Deficiency of other specified B group vitamins — code the B12 deficiency cause separatelyG95.0 Syringomyelia — different spinal cord condition with cavity formationR27.0 Ataxia, unspecified — symptom code, not the syndrome itself
Code Hierarchy
└G83Other paralytic syndromes└G83.8Other specified paralytic syndromes└G83.83Posterior cord syndrome
└G83.83Posterior cord syndrome