ICD-10-CM › V00-Y99 › W85-W99 › W94.2 Exposure to rapid changes in air... › W94.21

W94.21

Exposure to reduction in atmospheric pressure while surfacing from deep-water diving

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 3 more specific codes instead:

  • W94.21XA Exposure to reduction in atmospheric pressure while surfacing from deep-water diving, initial encounter
  • W94.21XD Exposure to reduction in atmospheric pressure while surfacing from deep-water diving, subsequent encounter
  • W94.21XS Exposure to reduction in atmospheric pressure while surfacing from deep-water diving, sequela

This code requires a seventh character. See the rule below.

What has happened to this code

Every change the publisher made, from 2014 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. FY2014 Added to the draft code set draft Exposure to reduction in atmospheric pressure while surfacing from deep-water diving

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 W94 Exposure to high and low air pressure and changes in air pressure

Seventh character required

  • The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W94

Inherited from the W85-W99 section Exposure to electric current, radiation and extreme ambient air temperature and pressure (W85-W99)

Excludes1 - never coded here

  • exposure to:
  • failure in dosage of radiation or temperature during surgical and medical care (Y63.2-Y63.5)
  • lightning (T75.0-)
  • natural cold (X31)
  • natural heat (X30)
  • natural radiation NOS (X39)
  • radiological procedure and radiotherapy (Y84.2)
  • sunlight (X32)

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.

Codes in the same group

CodeDescriptionStatus
W94.22 Exposure to reduction in atmospheric pressure while surfacing from underground Not billable
W94.23 Exposure to sudden change in air pressure in aircraft during ascent Not billable
W94.29 Exposure to other rapid changes in air pressure during ascent Not billable