Citation Nr: 18156349 Decision Date: 12/07/18 Archive Date: 12/07/18 DOCKET NO. 16-02 016 DATE: December 7, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for appendectomy scar is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s appendectomy scar is not deep, unstable, or nonlinear, and does not cause limitation of function. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for appendectomy scar have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1155 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.7, 4.118, Diagnostic Codes (DC) 7801-7805 (in effect prior to August 13, 2018, and effective August 13, 2018). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from October 1973 to April 1983. 1. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for appendectomy scar. The August 2015 rating decision on appeal granted the Veteran service connection for an appendectomy scar, effective from December 3, 2014. The Veteran appealed the noncompensable rating assigned. A March 2017 rating decision assigned the Veteran a 10 percent initial rating from December 3, 2014, the effective date of the grant of service connection. The Veteran seeks a higher rating for his appendectomy scar. After a careful review of the record, and for reasons and bases expressed below, the Board finds that the Veteran is not entitled to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for his appendectomy scar at any time since the grant of service connection. A VA examination conducted in April 2012 indicated that the Veteran did not have a painful or unstable scar. On VA examination in March 2017, the Veteran had a linear appendectomy scar on the right lower abdomen that was 7.5 centimeters long. The scar was noted to be painful. The scar was stable. The Veteran was provided another VA scar examination in June 2018. The scar was noted to be painful and stable. The scar was linear and 7.5 centimeters long. The examiner noted that the Veteran’s appendectomy scar resulted in no impairment of occupational and employment activities. The Board notes that effective August 13, 2018, some of the rating criteria for skin disabilities were revised. See 73 Fed. Reg. 32,592 (July 13, 2018). The criteria for DC 7804, which is pertinent to this appeal, was not affected. These revisions affected DCs 7801, 7802 and 7805. (Diagnostic Codes 7800, 7806, 7809, 7813, 7815-7817, 7820-7822, and 7824-7829 were also revised, but are not relevant to the Veteran’s claim). As this appeal was pending on August 13, 2018, the revised criteria are applicable, but only for the period beginning August 13, 2018. a) Analysis under the scar criteria in effect prior to August 13, 2018 The Veteran currently has a 10 percent rating under Diagnostic Code 7804 for a painful scar. A higher rating under DC 7804 requires that there be three or more scars that are unstable or painful. The record shows that the Veteran’s only service-connected scar is the appendectomy scar of the right lower abdomen. Accordingly, the Veteran is not entitled to a rating in excess of 10 percent for his appendectomy scar under DC 7804. The Board considered other potentially applicable codes. Diagnostic Code 7800 is not for application as it pertains to scars of the head, face, or neck. Diagnostic Code 7801 does not apply in this case, as the evidence does not demonstrate that the Veteran’s scar is deep or nonlinear. Diagnostic Code 7802 is also inapplicable as this diagnostic code does not provide for a rating in excess of 10 percent. Additionally, the Board notes that the Veteran’s scar does not result in any other disabling manifestations which would entitle the Veteran to a compensable rating under any other diagnostic codes not contemplated by the diagnostic codes pertaining to the scars. b) Analysis under the scar criteria in effect from August 13, 2018 On August 13, 2018, DC 7801 was revised to apply to scars that are associated with underlying soft tissue damage (former criteria instead referred to scars that were deep and nonlinear). The record clearly shows that the Veteran’s appendectomy scar does not have underlying soft tissue damage. Consequently, the newly revised DC 7801 is also not applicable to the Veteran’s scar. The revised version of DC 7802 continues to provide a maximum 10 percent rating and is thus not applicable to the Veteran’s claim for a rating in excess of 10 percent. Both the former and revised criteria for DC 7805 provide that scars should be evaluated pursuant to DCs 7800 through 7804 and adds that any disabling effect(s) not considered in those rating criteria should be evaluated under an appropriate DC. As noted above, the Veteran’s scar does not result in any other disabling manifestations which would entitle the Veteran to a compensable rating under any other diagnostic codes not contemplated by the diagnostic codes pertaining to the scars. Accordingly, the Board concludes that the criteria for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent have not been met under either the former or the revised criteria for the Veteran’s appendectomy scar at any time since the grant of service connection. See Fenderson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 119, 126 (1999); see also Hart v. Mansfield, 21 Vet. App. 505 (2007). G. A. WASIK Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD R. E. Jones, Counsel