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FAQ: Acute Renal Failure After Kidney Transplant

Published on 

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

 | Coding 

Question

A patient was admitted to the hospital with acute renal failure and has a history of a kidney transplant.  Is acute renal failure a complication of the kidney transplant?

 

Answer

Acute renal failure is affecting the function of the transplanted kidney, but it doesn’t mean that the transplant itself has failed.  Assign T86.19 (Other complication of kidney transplant) along with N17.9 (Acute renal failure) to correctly code this case.

 

  • Pre-existing conditions or conditions that develop after an organ transplant are not coded as complications unless it affects the function of the transplanted organ.

 

References:

Coding Clinic for ICD-10-CM/PCS, Second Quarter 2019:  Page 7

AHA Coding Handbook

Article Author: Susie James, RHIT, CCS
Susie James, RHIT, CCS, is the Manager of Inpatient Coding Services at MMP, Inc. Susie has worked in the coding field for over 30 years and has worked as a coder, coding supervisor, and corporate coding manager for a large multi-facility system in Birmingham. She also worked for Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation (AQAF) as a coding reviewer/auditor before joining the team at Medical Management Plus, Inc. Susie has previously served as the President of the Alabama Association of Health Information Management (AAHIM) on the Board of Directors and currently serves as the Education/Coding Roundtable Chair. She is also a member of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and has previously served as the Co-chair for AHIMA's Leadership Team. She also served as a facilitator at AHIMA's 85th National Convention in Atlanta Georgia.

This material was compiled to share information.  MMP, Inc. is not offering legal advice. Every reasonable effort has been taken to ensure the information is accurate and useful.