M87.159 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, unspecified femur

Billable ICD-10-CM code, FY2026. Acts as a Complication or Comorbidity (CC) as a secondary diagnosis.

Applies from M87 Osteonecrosis

Includes

• avascular necrosis of bone

Excludes1 (never code together)

• juvenile osteonecrosis (M91-M92)
• osteochondropathies (M90-M93)

Use additional code

• code to identify major osseous defect, if applicable (M89.7-)

Applies from M87.1 Osteonecrosis due to drugs

Use additional code

• code for adverse effect, if applicable, to identify drug (T36-T50 with fifth or sixth character 5)

Risk adjustment (HCC)

• CMS-HCC V22: HCC 39 — Bone/Joint/Muscle Infections/Necrosis
• RxHCC V08: HCC 80 — Aseptic Necrosis of Bone
• ESRD V24: HCC 39

MS-DRG index

Defines the logic of DRG(s) 553-554 in MDC 08.

Approximate ICD-9-CM (GEMs)

• 733.42 Aseptic necrosis of head and neck of femur (approximate)
• 733.43 Aseptic necrosis of medial femoral condyle (approximate)

Medicare Code Edits (MCE v43.1 (April 2026))

• Unspecified code (laterality): Unspecified codes for which a more specific code identifying laterality (right, left, bilateral) exists within the same code family.

Code annotations containing back-references to M87.159

Back-references to M87

• Code First: M89.7 Major osseous defect ("aseptic necrosis of bone (M87.-)")
• Code First: M89.7 Major osseous defect ("osteonecrosis (M87.-)")

Nearby codes

• M87.146 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, unspecified finger(s)
• M87.15 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, pelvis and femur
• M87.150 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, pelvis
• M87.151 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, right femur
• M87.152 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, left femur
• M87.159 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, unspecified femur (this code)
• M87.16 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, tibia and fibula
• M87.161 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, right tibia
• M87.162 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, left tibia
• M87.163 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, unspecified tibia
• M87.164 Osteonecrosis due to drugs, right fibula