Inflammations and Infections of the Eye
Blepharitis is inflammation of the eyelid that can be caused by seborrheic dermatitis, bacterial infection, clogged or malfunctioning oil glands in your eyelids, allergies, or other conditions. Codes are reported from subcategory H01.0 Blepharitis and are selected based on the type of blepharitis and the eyelid(s) affected.
Conjunctivitis is an infection in the eye also known as pink eye. When the eye is exposed to bacteria and other allergic irritants, it may lead to inflammation and infection. The eyes appear red or pink due to inflamed blood vessels in the conjunctiva. Conjunctivitis is reported with a code from category H10 Conjunctivitis and is based on the type of conjunctivitis and the eye affected.
Q: A father takes his child to the pediatrician as her right eye is red, itchy, with a mucus discharge. The provider documents the child has pink eye. What would be the ICD-10-CM code reported for this encounter?
A: H10.021 Rationale: Let’s look in our ICD-10-CM Alphabetic Index for Pink/eye and we are referred to conjunctivitis, acute, mucopurulent. Mucopurulent is a secretion of mucus or pus from the eye. This path directs us to ICD-10-CM code H10.02-. As we look in the Tabular List, a 6th character “1” is reported for the right eye.
Reference: 2024 ICD-10-CM codebook
