Coding Conventions
Punctuation
The official guidelines include these 3 punctuation symbols:
- ( ) Parentheses: Used in both the Alphabetic Index and the Tabular List to enclose supplementary words that may be present or absent in the statement of a disease or procedure without affecting the code number to which it’s assigned. The terms within parentheses are referred to as nonessential modifiers.
- [ ] Brackets: Used in the Alphabetic Index to show manifestation codes. Used in the Tabular List to enclose synonyms, alternative wording, or explanatory phrases.
- : Colons: Used in the Tabular List after an incomplete term that needs 1 or more modifiers following the colon to make it assignable to a given category.