Acute tonsillitis, unspecified

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 2 more specific codes instead:

J03.90 Acute tonsillitis, unspecified
J03.91 Acute recurrent tonsillitis, unspecified

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 Acute tonsillitis, unspecified

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 J03 Acute tonsillitis

Excludes1 - never coded here

acute sore throat (J02.-)
hypertrophy of tonsils (J35.1)
peritonsillar abscess (J36)
sore throat NOS (J02.9)
streptococcal sore throat (J02.0)

Excludes2 - not included here

chronic tonsillitis (J35.0)

Inherited from the J00-J06 section Acute upper respiratory infections (J00-J06)

Excludes1 - never coded here

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with acute lower respiratory infection (J44.0)

Codes in the same group

Code	Description	Status
J03.0	Streptococcal tonsillitis	Not billable
J03.8	Acute tonsillitis due to other specified organisms	Not billable