Nondisp comminuted fracture of shaft of left fibula, sequela

This code describes a prior, now healed, comminuted fracture of the shaft of the left fibula that was nondisplaced at the time of injury. A comminuted fracture indicates the bone was broken into three or more pieces, and "nondisplaced" means the bone fragments remained in their normal alignment. "Sequela" signifies that this code is used to report conditions that are residual effects or complications of the original injury, even after the acute phase has passed.

Use this code when documenting a long-term complication or residual condition directly resulting from a previously sustained nondisplaced comminuted fracture of the shaft of the left fibula. This applies when the initial fracture has healed, but the patient is still experiencing issues such as chronic pain, deformity, nonunion, malunion, or functional limitations attributable to that specific past injury.

• Always assign a sequela code when the patient is being treated for a residual condition of a past injury, not the acute injury itself.
• Ensure documentation clearly links the current condition to the specified past fracture of the left fibula shaft.
• Do not use this code for the initial treatment of the acute fracture; use the appropriate acute fracture code with the correct encounter type.