38 CFR § 4.71a — Schedule of ratings—musculoskeletal system

Title 38, Code of Federal Regulations · full text below reproduced from the eCFR, revision of 2026-07-01.

In practice: The musculoskeletal rating schedule itself — spine, joints, muscles and amputations, diagnostic codes 5000–5329 in one table-heavy section. Every code has its own page under rating-code; this section has been amended repeatedly since 2016 (history below).
All rating codes →

Regulation text

This section is primarily tabular; see the official text linked above.

This section also contains official tables not reproduced here — the eCFR text linked above is authoritative for the tables, and our calculator implements them.

Amendment history

eCFR records 6 amendments to § 4.71a since 2016-12-14 (the versioner’s floor is 2016-12-14). Each row is a word-level comparison of the section’s text before and after that date; the date links to the text as amended on eCFR, where the earlier version is one click back in time. Why it matters: the version in force when a claim was filed or decided can govern it, and a liberalizing change can carry its own effective date (38 CFR 3.114).

AmendedWordsWhat changed (first differing passage)
2025-01-14+53 / −14
was: f, or g, 38 CFR 3.350(b) M1/2 Code M-5, 38 CFR 3.350 (f)(1)(x)now: f, or g, 38 CFR 3.350(b) M 1 ⁄ 2 Code M-5, 38 CFR 3.350 (f)(1)(x)
2021-02-09+327 / −104
was: § 4.71a Schedule of ratings - musculoskeletal system. Acute, Subacute, or Chronic Diseasesnow: § 4.71a Schedule of ratings—musculoskeletal system. Acute, Subacute, or Chronic Diseases
· codes near the change: 5242, 5243, 5244, 5269, 5270, 5276
2021-02-08+1,243 / −643
was: Schedule of ratings - musculoskeletal system. Link to an amendment published at 85 FR 76460, Nov. 30, 2020. Link to a correction published at 85 FR 85523, Dec. 29, 2020. Link to a correction published at 86 FR 8142, Feb. 4, …
· codes near the change: 5002, 5003, 5004, 5006, 5007, 5008, 5009, 5010, 5011, 5012
2021-02-04+12 / −0
now: 85 FR 85523, Dec. 29, 2020. Link to a correction published at 86 FR 8142, Feb. 4, 2021. Acute, Subacute, or Chronic Diseases Rating
· codes near the change: 8142
2020-12-29+12 / −0
now: at 85 FR 76460, Nov. 30, 2020. Link to a correction published at 85 FR 85523, Dec. 29, 2020. Acute, Subacute, or Chronic Diseases
2020-11-30+12 / −0
now: Schedule of ratings - musculoskeletal system. Link to an amendment published at 85 FR 76460, Nov. 30, 2020. Acute, Subacute, or Chronic Diseases Rating

Source note: [29 FR 6718, May 22, 1964, as amended at 34 FR 5062, Mar. 11, 1969; 40 FR 42536, Sept. 15, 1975; 41 FR 11294, Mar. 18, 1976; 43 FR 45350, Oct. 2, 1978; 51 FR 6411, Feb. 24, 1986; 61 FR 20439, May 7, 1996; 67 FR 48785, July 26, 2002; 67 FR 54349, Aug. 22, 2002; 68 FR 51456, Aug. 27, 2003; 69 FR 32450, June 10, 2004; 80 FR 42041, July 16, 2015; 85 FR 76460, Nov. 30, 2020, 85 FR 85523, Dec. 29, 2020, 86 FR 8142, Feb. 4, 2021]

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