Gastroenterology Coding Alert

Question: In ICD-9, we had an option to report esophageal hemorrhage, but we can’t find a code for that in ICD-10. We assume we should use the unspecified gastritis with bleeding code (K29.71) but that doesn’t seem to fit the condition. Can you point us in the right direction?

Codify Subscriber

Answer: You are correct that ICD-10 doesn’t contain an exact crosswalk from the previous esophageal hemorrhage code to a new one. Fortunately, you aren’t the only person who has noticed this omission, and a code for esophagitis with bleeding has been proposed for the next edition of ICD-10.

According to the notes from the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee Meeting in March, a coder has requested new codes for this condition, and the American Gastroenterological Association supports the additions. The new codes would be listed as follows;

• K20.1 – Esophagitis with bleeding
• K20.80 – Other esophagitis without bleeding (Abscess of esophagus)
• K20.81 – Other esophagitis with bleeding
• K20.90 – Esophagitis, unspecified without bleeding (Esophagistis NOS)
• K20.91 – Esophagitis, unspecified with bleeding
• K21.00 – Gastro-esophageal reflux disease with esophagitis, without bleeding (Reflux esophagitis)
• K21.01 – Gastro-esophageal reflux disease with esophagitis, with bleeding

It remains to be seen whether these proposals will be approved and added to the 2020 edition of the ICD-10 manual, but the codes should be addressed at the committee’s next meeting, which takes place in September. Keep an eye on Gastroenterology Coding Alert for more on this issue.