Total perforations of tympanic membrane

Not billableICD-10-CM diagnosis code.

This code exists but cannot be submitted on its own. It groups the more specific codes beneath it.

A category header for its whole life, FY2016 onwards. It has never been valid for submission on its own.

Submit one of these 4 more specific codes instead:

H72.821 Total perforations of tympanic membrane, right ear
H72.822 Total perforations of tympanic membrane, left ear
H72.823 Total perforations of tympanic membrane, bilateral
H72.829 Total perforations of tympanic membrane, unspecified ear

What has happened to this code

Every change the publisher made, from 2012 to now. Entries marked draft are from the pre-implementation releases: ICD-10 took effect on 1 October 2015, so nothing before FY2016 was ever valid on a claim.

FY2012 Added to the draft code set draft Total perforations of tympanic membrane

Official coding rules

Published by CDC for FY2027. A rule attached to a category binds every code beneath it, so the rules inherited from this code's ancestors are shown with the code they come from.

Inherited from H72 Perforation of tympanic membrane

Excludes1 - never coded here

acute suppurative otitis media with rupture of the tympanic membrane (H66.01-)
traumatic rupture of ear drum (S09.2-)

Code first

any associated otitis media (H65.-, H66.1-, H66.2-, H66.3-, H66.4-, H66.9-, H67.-)

Includes

persistent post-traumatic perforation of ear drum
postinflammatory perforation of ear drum

How CDC's index refers to this code

Wording from the official alphabetic index. Much of it appears nowhere in the code description, which is why a search for the everyday phrase so often finds nothing.

Disease, diseased > tympanum
Rupture, ruptured > ear drum
Perforation, perforated > ear drum
Perforation, perforated > attic, ear
Rupture, ruptured > membrana tympani
Perforation, perforated > pars flaccida
Disorder > tympanic membrane > perforation
Perforation, perforated > membrana tympani
Perforation, perforated > tympanum, tympanic > attic > total
Perforation, perforated > tympanum, tympanic > pars flaccida
Perforation, perforated > tympanum, tympanic > central > total
Perforation, perforated > tympanum, tympanic > total

Codes in the same group

Code	Description	Status
H72.81	Multiple perforations of tympanic membrane	Not billable