Pulmonology Coding Alert

Question: Our practice saw a patient who was experiencing inflammation in their nasal cavity. After an examination, the physician diagnosed the patient with polyps in the nasal cavity and sinuses.

Can I use J33 to code both diagnoses?

Virginia Subscriber

Answer: Parent code J33.- (Nasal polyp) carries a symbol that indicates an additional 4th character is required for correct reporting. In the ICD-10-CM code set tabular list, you’ll find J33.0 (Polyp of nasal cavity) and J33.8 (Other polyp of sinus) under parent code J33.-. Both codes meet the coding requirements for your provider’s diagnoses.

You’ll use J33.0 to code the polyp in the nasal cavity. The code also carries additional synonyms, Choanal polyp and Nasopharyngeal polyp, that may be in the documentation.

Similarly, code J33.8 features additional synonyms to represent the other types of polyps found in the sinuses. These descriptors include:

• Accessory polyp of sinus
• Ethmoidal polyp of sinus
• Maxillary polyp of sinus
• Sphenoidal polyp of sinus

Parent Code note: J33 carries an Excludes1 note that doesn’t allow D14.0 (Benign neoplasm of middle ear, nasal cavity and accessory sinuses) to be coded with J33.0-J33.8.