Minnesota Rule 5223.0380
Minnesota thoracic spine PPD rating
Rule 5223.0380 rates permanent thoracic impairment under one category of subpart 2 (fractures), 3 (thoracic pain syndrome), or 4 (radicular syndromes). Item 4.D adds up to four once-only subitems. The thoracic part has no fusion subpart and no stenosis category.
Rule text from the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, retrieved 2026-08-02.
This is my working reading of Minnesota Rule chapter 5223. I keep checking it against the official rule text and published decisions. If a category, percent, or combination looks wrong, email hello@mncompbuddy.com and say what you found. A mismatch is a reason to look again, not a reason to treat this tool or a doctor rating as automatically correct.
How the rule decides
Each group below is a set of alternatives: the facts select at most one category from each group. Add-ons attach to their base category as the rule directs and are added, not statutorily combined.
Choose one: thoracic primary
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: compression fracture (item a); and Greatest loss of vertebral height, as a percent of 10 percent or less.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.A(1)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: compression fracture (item a); and Greatest loss of vertebral height, as a percent above 10 percent; and Greatest loss of vertebral height, as a percent of 25 percent or less.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.A(2)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: compression fracture (item a); and Greatest loss of vertebral height, as a percent above 25 percent; and Greatest loss of vertebral height, as a percent of 50 percent or less.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.A(3)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: compression fracture (item a); and Greatest loss of vertebral height, as a percent above 50 percent.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.A(4)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: posterior element fracture with dislocation (item b); and not: whether surgery was performed for the fracture; and Whether normal reduction was achieved.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.B(1)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: posterior element fracture with dislocation (item b); and Whether surgery was performed for the fracture; and Whether normal reduction was achieved.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.B(2)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: posterior element fracture with dislocation (item b); and not: whether surgery was performed for the fracture; and not: whether normal reduction was achieved.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.B(3)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: posterior element fracture with dislocation (item b); and Whether surgery was performed for the fracture; and not: whether normal reduction was achieved.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.B(4)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: other documented acute fracture (item c).
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.C
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: thoracic spine pain syndrome (subpart 3); and not: persistent objective clinical findings in the thoracic spine (involuntary muscle tightness, or for radicular categories, objective radicular findings).
R. 5223.0380, subp. 3.A
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: thoracic spine pain syndrome (subpart 3); and Persistent objective clinical findings in the thoracic spine (involuntary muscle tightness, or for radicular categories, objective radicular findings).
R. 5223.0380, subp. 3.B
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4); and not: persistent objective clinical findings in the thoracic spine (involuntary muscle tightness, or for radicular categories, objective radicular findings).
R. 5223.0380, subp. 4.A
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4); and Persistent objective clinical findings in the thoracic spine (involuntary muscle tightness, or for radicular categories, objective radicular findings); and What imaging shows, at its most severe: no radiographic findings.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 4.B
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4); and Persistent objective clinical findings in the thoracic spine (involuntary muscle tightness, or for radicular categories, objective radicular findings); and What imaging shows, at its most severe: radiographic abnormality not specifically addressed elsewhere (no nerve impingement).
R. 5223.0380, subp. 4.C
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4); and What imaging shows, at its most severe: disc bulge, protrusion, or herniation impinging a thoracic nerve root, correlated with the exam.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 4.D
Add-ons
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2); and Type of vertebral fracture: compression fracture (item a) or posterior element fracture with dislocation (item b) or other documented acute fracture (item c); and Whether more than one vertebral level was fractured.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 2.D
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4); and What imaging shows, at its most severe: disc bulge, protrusion, or herniation impinging a thoracic nerve root, correlated with the exam; and Chronic radicular pain or paresthesia persisting despite treatment.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 4.D(1)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4); and What imaging shows, at its most severe: disc bulge, protrusion, or herniation impinging a thoracic nerve root, correlated with the exam; and A surgery was performed as part of the treatment.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 4.D(2)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4); and What imaging shows, at its most severe: disc bulge, protrusion, or herniation impinging a thoracic nerve root, correlated with the exam; and A surgery was performed as part of the treatment; and One or more additional surgeries after the first.
R. 5223.0380, subp. 4.D(3)
Requires: Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4); and What imaging shows, at its most severe: disc bulge, protrusion, or herniation impinging a thoracic nerve root, correlated with the exam; and An additional concurrent lesion meeting the same criteria (contralateral side at the same level, or either side at another level).
R. 5223.0380, subp. 4.D(4)
What the records must show
These are the facts the rule turns on. If one is unknown, the affected categories stay open questions with the document that would settle them; an unknown never counts as a no.
Proof: MRI report; CT scan report; x-ray report; myelogram report; clinic note documenting persistent findings; MMI report; IME report
Proof: MRI report; CT scan report; x-ray report; myelogram report
Proof: MRI report; CT scan report; x-ray report; myelogram report
Proof: operative report
Proof: MRI report; CT scan report; x-ray report; myelogram report; operative report
Proof: MRI report; CT scan report; x-ray report; myelogram report
Proof: clinic note documenting persistent findings; MMI report; IME report; EMG report
Proof: MRI report; CT scan report; x-ray report; myelogram report
Proof: operative report
Proof: operative report
Proof: clinic note documenting persistent findings; MMI report; IME report
Proof: MRI report; CT scan report; x-ray report; myelogram report
Worked examples with receipts
Each example runs through the same engine the calculator uses. The category total, the components, and the citations are computed, not typed in.
Full 4.D stack: base plus all four subitems (audit F-01)
whole-body total
Date of injury 2020-01-15
- Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4)
- What imaging shows, at its most severe: disc bulge, protrusion, or herniation impinging a thoracic nerve root, correlated with the exam
- Chronic radicular pain or paresthesia persisting despite treatment: yes
- A surgery was performed as part of the treatment: yes
- One or more additional surgeries after the first: yes
- An additional concurrent lesion meeting the same criteria (contralateral side at the same level, or either side at another level): yes
- Thoracic Radicular Syndrome D: Disc Impingement (Base): 12%
- Whole-body total: 12%
4.D base with first and additional surgery (audit F-02)
whole-body total
Date of injury 2020-01-15
- Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: radicular syndrome (subpart 4)
- What imaging shows, at its most severe: disc bulge, protrusion, or herniation impinging a thoracic nerve root, correlated with the exam
- Chronic radicular pain or paresthesia persisting despite treatment: no
- A surgery was performed as part of the treatment: yes
- One or more additional surgeries after the first: yes
- An additional concurrent lesion meeting the same criteria (contralateral side at the same level, or either side at another level): no
- Thoracic Radicular Syndrome D: Disc Impingement (Base): 7%
- Whole-body total: 7%
Thoracic pain with persistent objective findings
whole-body total
Date of injury 2024-01-01
- Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: thoracic spine pain syndrome (subpart 3)
- Persistent objective clinical findings in the thoracic spine (involuntary muscle tightness, or for radicular categories, objective radicular findings): yes
- Thoracic Pain Syndrome B: Persistent Objective Findings: 2.5%
- Whole-body total: 2.5%
Posterior element fracture, surgery, poor reduction
whole-body total
Date of injury 2024-01-01
- Which thoracic spine category family fits the condition: fracture (subpart 2)
- Type of vertebral fracture: posterior element fracture with dislocation (item b)
- Whether surgery was performed for the fracture: yes
- Whether normal reduction was achieved: no
- Whether more than one vertebral level was fractured: no
- Thoracic Fracture (Posterior Elements/Dislocation): Surgery, Poor Reduction: 19%
- Whole-body total: 19%
Common questions
Why is there no thoracic fusion add-on?
The thoracic rule has no subpart 5. Its surgery add-ons at 4.D(2) and 4.D(3) are two percent each and apply to any surgery, because there is no fusion subpart to redirect to.
Does thoracic pain with an imaging abnormality rate higher than 2.5 percent?
Not under subpart 3, which rates pain syndrome "regardless of radiographic abnormality". Imaging matters only in the radicular categories 4.C and 4.D.
Interpretive notes
- Known simplification held over from the audited ppd-v2 model: the single fact medical.objectiveFindings stands in for both "persistent objective clinical findings confined to the region" (items B and C) and "objective radicular findings" (items D and E). Splitting these is an attorney-review decision; the graph flags it rather than changing audited rating behavior.
What to do next
Turn a category percent into dollars, combine multiple ratings, or see permanency inside a full settlement value.
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