Alphabetic Index FY2027

M48.44

Fatigue fracture of vertebra, thoracic region

FY2027Chapter 13: Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue/M45–M49 Spondylopathies

Non-billable headerNot valid on its own. Use one of the more specific codes under it.

M48.44 is a non-billable ICD-10-CM code header for fatigue fracture of vertebra, thoracic region. Report a more specific code from it instead. It is part of the FY2027 code set, effective October 1, 2026. A 7th character is required to complete the code. Its coding notes include 5 Excludes1 entries and 10 Excludes2 entries.

7th character

Category M48.4 requires a 7th character. M48.44 has only 5 characters, so a placeholder X fills the 6th position.

Assembled code M48.44XA Open code

Excludes1

Not coded here. The listed conditions generally should not be reported together.

Inherited from M48.4 Fatigue fracture of vertebra
  • pathological fracture NOS (M84.4-)
  • pathological fracture of vertebra due to neoplasm (M84.58)
  • pathological fracture of vertebra due to other diagnosis (M84.68)
  • pathological fracture of vertebra due to osteoporosis (M80.-)
  • traumatic fracture of vertebrae (S12.0-S12.3-, S22.0-, S32.0-)

Excludes2

Not included here. Both codes may be reported if the patient has both conditions.

Also from chapter/block level (10 notes)
Inherited from Chapter 13 Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue
  • 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)

Notes

Also from chapter/block level (1 note)
Inherited from Chapter 13 Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue
  • Use an external cause code following the code for the musculoskeletal condition, if applicable, to identify the cause of the musculoskeletal condition

Alphabetic Index terms

Terms the official Alphabetic Index lists for this code. 1 entry

7th-character codes under M48.44 4