ICD-10-CM › L00-L99 › L00-L08 › L codes › L03

L03

Cellulitis and acute lymphangitis

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 6 more specific codes instead:

  • L03.0 Cellulitis and acute lymphangitis of finger and toe (also a header)
  • L03.1 Cellulitis and acute lymphangitis of other parts of limb (also a header)
  • L03.2 Cellulitis and acute lymphangitis of face and neck (also a header)
  • L03.3 Cellulitis and acute lymphangitis of trunk (also a header)
  • L03.8 Cellulitis and acute lymphangitis of other sites (also a header)
  • L03.9 Cellulitis and acute lymphangitis, 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 Cellulitis and acute lymphangitis

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

Excludes2 - not included here

  • cellulitis of anal and rectal region (K61.-)
  • cellulitis of external auditory canal (H60.1)
  • cellulitis of eyelid (H00.0)
  • cellulitis of female external genital organs (N76.4)
  • cellulitis of lacrimal apparatus (H04.3)
  • cellulitis of male external genital organs (N48.2, N49.-)
  • cellulitis of mouth (K12.2)
  • cellulitis of nose (J34.0)
  • eosinophilic cellulitis [Wells] (L98.3)
  • febrile neutrophilic dermatosis [Sweet] (L98.2)
  • lymphangitis (chronic) (subacute) (I89.1)

Inherited from the L00-L08 section Infections of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (L00-L08)

Excludes2 - not included here

  • hordeolum (H00.0)
  • infective dermatitis (L30.3)
  • local infections of skin classified in Chapter 1
  • lupus panniculitis (L93.2)
  • panniculitis NOS (M79.3)
  • panniculitis of neck and back (M54.0-)
  • Perlèche NOS (K13.0)
  • Perlèche due to candidiasis (B37.0)
  • Perlèche due to riboflavin deficiency (E53.0)
  • pyogenic granuloma (L98.0)
  • relapsing panniculitis [Weber-Christian] (M35.6)
  • viral warts (B07.-)
  • zoster (B02.-)

Use additional code

  • code (B95-B97) to identify infectious agent.