Skip to main content

H81.09 ICD-10-CM Code: Ménière's disease, unspecified ear

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

Inpatient Payment Groups (MS-DRG)

MS-DRGs this diagnosis helps define, as principal or secondary, per the CMS ICD-10-CM/PCS MS-DRG Definitions Manual v43.0, Appendix B.

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.

Official Registry Overview & Definition

Ménière's disease, unspecified ear is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (H81.09).

Official Tabular Instructional Notes

Sequencing, inclusion, and exclusion notes published for H81.09 in the official ICD-10-CM tabular list.

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).

Frequently Compared Codes

The official Excludes notes on H81.09 name these codes. Each comparison page covers when the two can — or must not — be reported together.

Change history

No changes recorded for this code — unchanged since the FY2016 baseline of the change ledger.

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.

Relationships & Classification

Official ICD-10-CM tabular notes on other codes that name H81.09 or its code family.

1 Excludes1 notes: R42 (via H81.-).

Potential MS-DRG Relationships (FY2026)

Not on the CMS CC/MCC list — as a secondary diagnosis this code does not change MS-DRG severity.

Named in the grouper logic of 1 MS-DRG: DRG 149 (MDC 03).

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

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):EAR003 — Diseases of inner ear and related conditions (default).

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

Contextual Map

Every relationship of H81.09 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.

Hierarchy

  • H60-H95 — Chapter 8: Diseases of the Ear and Mastoid Process (H60-H95) (H60-H95) [Hierarchy]
  • H80-H83 — Diseases of inner ear [Hierarchy]

Referenced by Excludes1 notes

  • R42 — Dizziness and giddiness [Excludes1](via H81.-): “vertiginous syndromes (H81.-)” · check together

Clinical classification (CCSR)

  • EAR003 — Diseases of inner ear and related conditions [CCSR]

Potential MS-DRG

  • DRG 149 — DYSEQUILIBRIUM [MS-DRG]: “DYSEQUILIBRIUM (MDC 03)”

MDC crossing · procedures (5147)

  • MDC 03 — Diseases and Disorders of the Ear, Nose, Mouth and Throat [MDC crossing]: “Diseases and Disorders of the Ear, Nose, Mouth and Throat — 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.”
  • 008F0ZZ — Division of Olfactory Nerve, Open Approach [Same-MDC procedure]: “Division of Olfactory Nerve, Open Approach — grouped in MDC 03, the procedure side of this code's crossing.” · check together
  • 008F3ZZ — Division of Olfactory Nerve, Percutaneous Approach [Same-MDC procedure]: “Division of Olfactory Nerve, Percutaneous Approach — grouped in MDC 03, the procedure side of this code's crossing.” · check together
  • 008F4ZZ — Division of Olfactory Nerve, Percutaneous Endoscopic Approach [Same-MDC procedure]: “Division of Olfactory Nerve, Percutaneous Endoscopic Approach — grouped in MDC 03, the procedure side of this code's crossing.” · check together
  • 008G0ZZ — Division of Optic Nerve, Open Approach [Same-MDC procedure]: “Division of Optic Nerve, Open Approach — grouped in MDC 03, the procedure side of this code's crossing.” · check together
  • 008G3ZZ — Division of Optic Nerve, Percutaneous Approach [Same-MDC procedure]: “Division of Optic Nerve, Percutaneous Approach — grouped in MDC 03, the procedure side of this code's crossing.” · check together
  • and 5142 more

Nearest codes (38)

  • H81 — Disorders of vestibular function [Sibling]
  • H81.0 — Ménière's disease [Sibling]
  • H81.01 — Ménière's disease, right ear [Sibling]
  • H81.02 — Ménière's disease, left ear [Sibling]
  • H81.03 — Ménière's disease, bilateral [Sibling]
  • H81.1 — Benign paroxysmal vertigo [Sibling]
  • H81.10 — Benign paroxysmal vertigo, unspecified ear [Sibling]
  • H81.11 — Benign paroxysmal vertigo, right ear [Sibling]
  • and 30 more

Nearest Codes in This Family

Official ICD-10-CM classifications closest to H81.09 in its code family, with their registry titles.

  • H81 — Disorders of vestibular function
  • H81.0 — Ménière's disease
  • H81.01 — Ménière's disease, right ear
  • H81.02 — Ménière's disease, left ear
  • H81.03 — Ménière's disease, bilateral
  • H81.1 — Benign paroxysmal vertigo
  • H81.10 — Benign paroxysmal vertigo, unspecified ear
  • H81.11 — Benign paroxysmal vertigo, right ear
  • H81.12 — Benign paroxysmal vertigo, left ear
  • H81.13 — Benign paroxysmal vertigo, bilateral

View all codes in the H81 family