VA Disability Rating for Leg, limitation of extension of (DC 5261)

Rating levels

• 50% — Your leg cannot straighten out beyond 45 degrees from a bent position. This means when you try to extend (straighten) your leg fully, it gets stuck at about a 45-degree angle and cannot reach the normal straight position that a healthy leg can achieve.
• 40% — Your leg can only straighten out to 30 degrees, which means you cannot fully extend or straighten your leg. Extension refers to the movement of straightening your leg from a bent position, and normal full extension would be 0 degrees (completely straight).
• 30% — Your knee can only straighten to within 20 degrees of being completely straight. This means when you try to fully extend your leg, it stops well short of the normal straight position that a healthy knee can achieve (which is 0 degrees or completely straight).
• 20% — Your leg cannot straighten out fully and stops at 15 degrees short of being completely straight. This means when you try to extend your leg (straighten it out from a bent position), there's significant limitation in how far it can go, leaving it noticeably bent even when you're trying your hardest to make it straight.
• 10% — Your knee cannot straighten all the way: it stops 10 degrees short of fully straight (extension limited to 10 degrees). Extension is straightening the leg at the knee, as when you stand up straight or lie flat with the leg out. This rating is about the knee only; the hip has its own codes.
• 0% — Your leg can only straighten out to within 5 degrees of being completely straight. Extension refers to your ability to fully straighten your leg at the knee joint, and this rating applies when you're missing just those last 5 degrees of motion from a normal, fully extended position.