L97.514 vs L97.519

L97.514 (Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with necrosis of bone) compared with L97.519 (Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with unspecified severity), from the official CMS tabular data.

Summary

These codes represent different levels of specificity within category L97: L97.514 is the more specific code and L97.519 is the unspecified one.

MedCoder-derived

What is different?

Title wording.The titles share “Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with”; L97.514 says “necrosis of bone” where L97.519 says “unspecified severity”.

Registry fact

Can these codes be reported together?

Not ordinarily.L97.514 is the more specific code and L97.519 is the unspecified one, in the same category. When the documentation supports the more specific code, the unspecified code is not added for the same condition (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.B.18).

MedCoder-derivedGuide: Other vs unspecified (NEC vs NOS)

Is there an Excludes1 relationship?

None.Neither entry carries an Excludes1 note that names the other code.

Official rule

Is there an Excludes2 relationship?

None.Neither entry carries an Excludes2 note that names the other code. L97.514 carries 3 Excludes2 notes and L97.519 carries 3 Excludes2 notes covering other codes; the side-by-side table quotes them.

Official rule

Is one more specific?

Yes.L97.514’s title names the condition; L97.519’s title is the unspecified form (“Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with unspecified severity”).

MedCoder-derivedGuide: Other vs unspecified (NEC vs NOS)

Is one a parent or header code?

No.Both are billable codes, and neither contains the other.

Registry fact

Are there sequencing instructions?

None.Neither entry carries a Code First or Use Additional Code note that names the other.

Official rule

Are there other coding relationships?

None found.No laterality, encounter-phase, Table of Neoplasms, Table of Drugs and Chemicals, or history-versus-active-disease relationship links these codes.

MedCoder-derived

Official rule: a tabular instructional note or a section of the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, quoted as published. Registry fact: the codes’ own published attributes (titles, billable status, position in the hierarchy, code set). MedCoder-derived: a reading MedCoder computes from those facts; it is not itself a rule. How to read the labels

Can these codes be reported together?

Review

Specificity relationship

L97.519

Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with unspecified severity

↔

L97.514

Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with necrosis of bone

What we found

Not ordinarily reported together for the same condition. No Excludes1/Excludes2 relationship is listed between L97.519 and L97.514, but they describe overlapping diagnoses in the same category (Both are children of the same L97 category.).

When documentation supports the more specific code, the unspecified code should generally not be added for the same condition (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.B.18).

What to review

When the documentation supports the more specific code, report it and leave the unspecified code off for the same condition.

Guide: Other vs unspecified (NEC vs NOS)Check these on a claim

Why it matters

No Excludes note links these codes, but they describe overlapping diagnoses and one of them is unspecified. When documentation supports the more specific code, the unspecified code should generally not be added for the same condition.

Source / rule

ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.B.18

Official guidance behind these answers

Section I.B.18 — Use of Sign/Symptom/Unspecified Codes · applies to: Unspecified codes
Sign/symptom and “unspecified” codes have acceptable, even necessary, uses. While specific diagnosis codes should be reported when they are supported by the available medical record documentation and clinical knowledge of the patient’s health condition, there are instances when signs/symptoms or unspecified codes are the best choices for accurately reflecting the healthcare encounter. Each healthcare encounter should be coded to the level of certainty known for that encounter. As stated in the introductory section of these official coding guidelines, a joint effort between the healthcare provider and the coder is essential to achieve complete and accurate documentation, code assignment, and reporting of diagnoses and procedures. The importance of consistent, complete documentation in the medical record cannot be overemphasized. Without such documentation accurate coding cannot be achieved. The entire record should be reviewed to determine the specific reason for the encounter and the conditions treated. If a definitive diagnosis has not been established by the end of the encounter, it is appropriate to report codes for sign(s) and/or symptom(s) in lieu of a definitive diagnosis. When sufficient clinical information isn’t known or available about a particular health condition to assign a more specific code, it is acceptable to report the appropriate “unspecified” code (e.g., a diagnosis of pneumonia has been determined, but not the specific type). […]
ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines FY2026
Section I.B.2 — Level of Detail in Coding · applies to: Level of detail
Diagnosis codes are to be used and reported at their highest number of characters available and to the highest level of specificity documented in the medical record. ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes are composed of codes with 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 characters. Codes with three characters are included in ICD-10-CM as the heading of a category of codes that may be further subdivided by the use of fourth and/or fifth characters and/or sixth characters, which provide greater detail. A three-character code is to be used only if it is not further subdivided. A code is invalid if it has not been coded to the full number of characters required for that code, including the 7th character, if applicable.
ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines FY2026

Quoted from the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting in effect for the release shown. The tabular notes above are the code-level instruction; these sections are the convention that says how such a note is applied. Source document (CMS PDF) · Release and checksum

Side by side

	L97.514Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with necrosis of bone	L97.519Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with unspecified severity
Billing status	Billable	Billable
Classification	L00-L99 — Diseases of the Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue (L00-L99)	L00-L99 — Diseases of the Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue (L00-L99)
Definition	Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with necrosis of bone is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (L97.514).	Non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of right foot with unspecified severity is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (L97.519).
Includes	chronic ulcer of skin of lower limb NOS non-healing ulcer of skin non-infected sinus of skin trophic ulcer NOS	chronic ulcer of skin of lower limb NOS non-healing ulcer of skin non-infected sinus of skin trophic ulcer NOS
Excludes2	pressure ulcer (pressure area) (L89.-) skin infections (L00-L08) specific infections classified to A00-B99	pressure ulcer (pressure area) (L89.-) skin infections (L00-L08) specific infections classified to A00-B99
Code first	any associated underlying condition, such as: any associated gangrene (I96)	any associated underlying condition, such as: any associated gangrene (I96)

Notes are the code’s own tabular entry, quoted as published. A note that names the other code is the one the verdict above rests on.

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Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2027). A coding-rule comparison, not billing advice: payer-specific edits and medical-necessity policy are outside its scope. All data sources