ICD-10-CM › K00-K95 › K50-K52 › K codes › K51

K51

Ulcerative colitis

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 7 more specific codes instead:

  • K51.0 Ulcerative (chronic) pancolitis (also a header)
  • K51.2 Ulcerative (chronic) proctitis (also a header)
  • K51.3 Ulcerative (chronic) rectosigmoiditis (also a header)
  • K51.4 Inflammatory polyps of colon (also a header)
  • K51.5 Left sided colitis (also a header)
  • K51.8 Other ulcerative colitis (also a header)
  • K51.9 Ulcerative colitis, unspecified (also a header)

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.

  1. FY2012 Added to the draft code set draft Ulcerative colitis

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.

This code

Excludes1 - never coded here

  • Crohn's disease [regional enteritis] (K50.-)

Use additional code

  • code to identify any associated fistulas, if applicable:
  • code to identify manifestations, such as:
  • anal fistula (K60.3-)
  • pyoderma gangrenosum (L88)
  • anorectal fistula (K60.5-)
  • rectal fistula (K60.4-)

Inherited from the K50-K52 section Noninfective enteritis and colitis (K50-K52)

Excludes1 - never coded here

  • irritable bowel syndrome (K58.-)
  • megacolon (K59.3-)

Includes

  • noninfective inflammatory bowel disease