Skip to main content

D53.2 ICD-10-CM Code: Scorbutic anemia

Billing Status: YES. This is a valid, specific, and billable ICD-10-CM reference.

Coding at a Glance

Tabular directives
1 inclusion term · 1 Excludes1

Inpatient Payment Groups (MS-DRG)

Potential MS-DRG participation — not a DRG assignment.

MS-DRGs this diagnosis helps define, as principal or secondary, per the CMS ICD-10-CM/PCS MS-DRG Definitions Manual v43, Appendix B.

  • MS-DRG 811 — RED BLOOD CELL DISORDERS WITH MCC (MDC 16)
  • MS-DRG 812 — RED BLOOD CELL DISORDERS WITHOUT MCC (MDC 16)

A diagnosis appearing in a group's logic does not by itself determine the DRG assigned to a stay; the grouper uses the full claim.

Coding instructions

Official Tabular Instructional Notes: the inclusion, exclusion and sequencing notes published for D53.2 in the official ICD-10-CM tabular list, quoted as published.

Source: CMS/CDC — ICD-10-CM Tabular ListRelease: FY2026Effective: October 1, 2025

Notes without a marker are published on D53.2 itself; “inherited from” names the category or block whose note applies here.

Includes

Conditions the official ICD-10-CM tabular list includes under this code.

  • megaloblastic anemia unresponsive to vitamin B12 or folate therapy

Source: inherited from D53

Excludes1 — Not Coded Here

Conditions generally not reported together with this code (Excludes1) -- an error unless the two conditions are documented as unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).

Coder workflow for D53.2

MedCoder structured workflow — derived from this code’s own official record

Before you code D53.2

  1. Check the Excludes1 note: if the documentation supports a condition named there, do not simply proceed with D53.2. Excludes1 conditions are not reported together with this code unless the record shows they are unrelated (Guidelines I.A.12.a).

    See the official tabular notes

Choose the right path

  1. Does the documentation support a condition named in D53.2’s Excludes1 note?
    Yes → Do not simply proceed: review the excluded code. Both are reported only when the record shows the two conditions are unrelated.
    No → Continue.

    ReviewE54

Consider D53.2. Then confirm the code is valid for the date of service in the Verify section.

Documentation check

The provider’s diagnostic statement
Codes are assigned from the provider’s documented diagnosis, not from clinical criteria, test values or a medication list (Guidelines I.A.19).

Official instructions as workflow

  • Excludes1 — check before selecting D53.2(1 note)

    Coding workflow: If the documentation supports a condition named in this note, do not simply proceed with D53.2: the two are not reported together. The one exception is when the record shows the two conditions are unrelated to each other.

    CompareE54

    See the official tabular notes · Guidelines I.A.12.a

Coding decision scenarios

Pattern scenarios for this code’s structure — decision rules, not clinical cases

Documentation: Both the condition D53.2 describes and a condition named in its Excludes1 note are documented for the same encounter.

Coding question: Can both codes be reported?

Path: Review the Excludes1 note and the excluded code, and look for a provider statement on whether the two conditions are related.

Reason: Excludes1 means the two are not coded together; the exception is when the record shows the conditions are unrelated to each other (Guidelines I.A.12.a).

ReviewE54

Every row is derived from this code’s own record — its title, tabular notes, 7th-character family and same-category siblings — with fixed MedCoder wording; nothing is inferred about a patient. The official notes and guideline text are in the sections each row links to, and they control.

Code Overview

Scorbutic anemia is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (D53.2).

MedCoder summary Summary composed by MedCoder from this code's official ICD-10-CM record. The tabular instructional notes themselves appear verbatim below.

Indexed Clinical Terms (3)

Official source data — entries quoted as published, in the Index’s own lookup phrasing

Clinical term phrases from the official ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries that map to this code. These are alphabetic-index entries shown as the Index writes them — lookup phrasing, not necessarily the wording of a final diagnosis.

Official Coding Guidelines

No excerpt in the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines names this code specifically. Its chapter carries only this chapter-wide note:

Chapter 3: Disease of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism (D50-D89)

Reserved for future guideline expansion

Verify Before Coding

  • No Medicare Code Editor or MS-DRG Definitions Manual restrictions apply to this code.

From the code registry, the Medicare Code Editor, and the MS-DRG Definitions Manual. Check it against a full claim in Claim Check.

Relationships & Classification

MedCoder structured relationships — computed from published CMS and AHRQ datasets

Other codes that name D53.2 or its code family, from the CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes. Tabular-note edges are stored at the code family level that carries each note.

Referenced by 2 Excludes1 notes across 2 chapters: E54 — Ascorbic acid deficiency, R71 — Abnormality of red blood cells (via D53.-).

These codes’ tabular lists mark this diagnosis as mutually exclusive — not reported together unless the conditions are documented as unrelated.

Referenced by 22 Excludes2 notes: E40 — Kwashiorkor (via D53.-), E40-E46 — Malnutrition (E40-E46) (via D53.-), E41 — Nutritional marasmus (via D53.-), E42 — Marasmic kwashiorkor (via D53.-), E43 — Unspecified severe protein-calorie malnutrition (via D53.-), E44 — Protein-calorie malnutrition of moderate and mild degree (via D53.-), E45 — Retarded development following protein-calorie malnutrition (via D53.-), E46 — Unspecified protein-calorie malnutrition (via D53.-), E50 — Vitamin A deficiency (via D53.-), E50-E64 — Other nutritional deficiencies (E50-E64) (via D53.-), E51 — Thiamine deficiency (via D53.-), E52 — Niacin deficiency [pellagra] (via D53.-), E53 — Deficiency of other B group vitamins (via D53.-), E54 — Ascorbic acid deficiency (via D53.-), E55 — Vitamin D deficiency (via D53.-), E56 — Other vitamin deficiencies (via D53.-), E58 — Dietary calcium deficiency (via D53.-), E59 — Dietary selenium deficiency (via D53.-), E60 — Dietary zinc deficiency (via D53.-), E61 — Deficiency of other nutrient elements (via D53.-), +2 more.

These codes’ tabular lists name this diagnosis as distinct — both may be reported when both are documented.

Referenced by 2 Code First instructions across 2 chapters: I21.A1 — Myocardial infarction type 2 (via D53.-), M90.5 — Osteonecrosis in diseases classified elsewhere (via D53.-).

Each of these codes carries a Code First note naming this condition — when that code is reported, THIS code is sequenced first, ahead of it.

MS-DRG Grouper Relationships (FY2026)

Potential MS-DRG participation — not a DRG assignment.

FY2026 MS-DRG: not on the CMS CC/MCC list — as a secondary diagnosis this code does not change MS-DRG severity for that release.

Named in the grouper logic of 2 MS-DRGs: DRG 811 (MDC 16), DRG 812 (MDC 16).

From the CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (Appendices B and C). Actual DRG assignment depends on the complete claim.

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):BLD001 — Nutritional anemia (default).

Clinical Classifications Software Refined (CCSR) for ICD-10-CM Diagnoses. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Related Codes

Same clinical category (CCSR)

AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software groups these diagnoses under the same clinical category (Nutritional anemia).

D50.0 — Iron deficiency anemia secondary to blood loss (chronic), D50.1 — Sideropenic dysphagia, D50.8 — Other iron deficiency anemias, D50.9 — Iron deficiency anemia, unspecified, D51.0 — Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia due to intrinsic factor deficiency, D51.1 — Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia due to selective vitamin B12 malabsorption with proteinuria, D51.2 — Transcobalamin II deficiency, D51.3 — Other dietary vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, D51.8 — Other vitamin B12 deficiency anemias, D51.9 — Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, unspecified, D52.0 — Dietary folate deficiency anemia, D52.1 — Drug-induced folate deficiency anemia, D52.8 — Other folate deficiency anemias, D52.9 — Folate deficiency anemia, unspecified, D53.0 — Protein deficiency anemia, D53.1 — Other megaloblastic anemias, not elsewhere classified, D53.8 — Other specified nutritional anemias, D53.9 — Nutritional anemia, unspecified

Same Index main term, other category

The ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries files this code under the main term “Anemia”; these codes share that main term but sit in a different category of the Tabular List.

D51.0 — Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia due to intrinsic factor deficiency (Addison), D51.1 — Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia due to selective vitamin B12 malabsorption with proteinuria (megaloblastic, hereditary), D51.2 — Transcobalamin II deficiency (deficiency, transcobalamin II), D51.3 — Other dietary vitamin B12 deficiency anemia (vegan), D51.8 — Other vitamin B12 deficiency anemias (deficiency, vitamin B12 NOS, specified type NEC), D51.9 — Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, unspecified (deficiency, vitamin B12 NOS), D52.0 — Dietary folate deficiency anemia (goat's milk), D52.1 — Drug-induced folate deficiency anemia (deficiency, folate, drug-induced), D52.8 — Other folate deficiency anemias (macrocytic, tropical), D52.9 — Folate deficiency anemia, unspecified (folatedeficiency), D55.0 — Anemia due to glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase [G6PD] deficiency (favism), D55.1 — Anemia due to other disorders of glutathione metabolism (deficiency, G SH), D55.21 — Anemia due to pyruvate kinase deficiency (deficiency, PK), D55.29 — Anemia due to other disorders of glycolytic enzymes (deficiency, 2, 3 PG), D55.3 — Anemia due to disorders of nucleotide metabolism (deficiency, enzyme, nucleotide metabolism), D55.8 — Other anemias due to enzyme disorders (deficiency, enzyme, specified type NEC), D55.9 — Anemia due to enzyme disorder, unspecified (deficiency, enzyme), D56.1 — Beta thalassemia (Cooley's), D56.8 — Other thalassemias (microcytic, familial), D56.9 — Thalassemia, unspecified (thalassemia), +72 more

Lab tests where this diagnosis supports Medicare coverage (NCD)

Medicare's National Coverage Determination (NCD) program lists this diagnosis as medical justification for these lab tests.

Iron Panel

Contextual Map

Every relationship of D53.2 in one view: hierarchy, official tabular instructions in both directions, clinical classification, risk adjustment, MS-DRG participation, index terms and change history — each edge carrying the CMS source it derives from.

Run D53.2 with these 12 related codes in Claim Check

Hierarchy

Excludes1

Referenced by Excludes1 notes

Referenced by Excludes2 notes (22)

Referenced by Code First instructions

Clinical classification (CCSR)

MS-DRG Grouper

MDC crossing

  • MDC 16 — Diseases and Disorders of Blood, Blood Forming Organs and Immunologic Disorders[MDC crossing]: “Diseases and Disorders of Blood, Blood Forming Organs and Immunologic Disorders — the grouper's crossing between diagnoses and procedures: a principal diagnosis sets the MDC, and same-MDC procedures move the stay to its surgical DRGs. 1,614 same-MDC procedures group here; browse them on the MDC page.”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual · FY2026

Index entries

  • Anemia (essential) (general) (hemoglobin deficiency) (infantile) (primary) (profound), scorbutic[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Scorbutus, scorbutic, anemia[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Scurvy, scorbutic, anemia[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026

Nearest codes

Change history

  • FY2016 — In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption [Change history]— CMS release files (code change ledger) · icd10cm-fy2016

Sources for this page

Codes, titles, notes, index terms and mappings on this page are transcribed from the datasets below. Relationships MedCoder computed and text MedCoder wrote are labelled where they appear.

Code, title, tabular notes and index terms Official source data
CMS/CDC ICD-10-CM FY2026 tabular list, index and tables, effective October 1, 2025 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Coding guidelines Official source data
ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting (FY2026), quoted by section Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Claim edits Official source data
CMS Definitions of Medicare Code Edits — v43.1 (April 2026) Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Inpatient payment groups Official source data
CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (incl. Appendix B diagnosis index, Appendix C CC/MCC list, Appendix E procedure index) and IPPS Final Rule tables — v43 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Change history and date-of-service validity Official source data
CMS ICD-10-CM release addenda, ingested release by release into the change ledger Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Comparisons, relationships and the contextual map MedCoder structured relationship
Computed by MedCoder from the tabular notes and tables above; every derived relationship is marked as derived where it appears
Summary and FAQ answers MedCoder explanation
Written by MedCoder to explain the sources above: drafted with AI assistance, checked by a person against the release files, and labelled as MedCoder text where it appears. Not official text.

Labels on this page: Official source data · MedCoder structured relationship · MedCoder explanation. How to read the labels · All data sources and release dates

Cite this page

Reference this page in a research guide, syllabus or article. The release is included because code content changes each year.

MedCoder.ai. "D53.2 — Scorbutic anemia." ICD-10-CM FY2026. https://medcoder.ai/icd10/code/d53.2-scorbutic-anemia

Change history

  • FY2016 — October 1, 2015
    In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption
    Scorbutic anemia

No changes since FY2016 — additions, deletions, description changes and billable-status changes are tracked through FY2027 (effective October 1, 2026), and none are recorded for this code. Note changes are tracked from FY2027 only.

Nearest Codes in This Family

Official ICD-10-CM classifications closest to D53.2 in its code family, with their registry titles.

View all codes in the D53 family