In the ICD-10-CM Tabular List, square brackets [ ] (Brackets) are used to enclose synonyms, alternative wording, or explanatory phrases. This is a punctuation convention taught for ICD-10-CM and is tested on CPC.
To avoid confusion with other punctuation:
Parentheses ( ) indicate nonessential modifiers (supplementary words that may be present or absent without affecting the code selection).
A semicolon ( ; ) is used in the Tabular List to show that additional modifying words (that follow the semicolon) are required to complete the diagnostic statement.
Colons ( : ) are used after an incomplete term that needs one or more modifying terms to make it assignable.
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