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K90.81 ICD-10-CM Code: Whipple's disease

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

Coding at a Glance

Tabular directives
1 Excludes1
Risk adjustment
RxHCC V08 category 66

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 393 — OTHER DIGESTIVE SYSTEM DIAGNOSES WITH MCC (MDC 06)
  • MS-DRG 394 — OTHER DIGESTIVE SYSTEM DIAGNOSES WITH CC (MDC 06)
  • MS-DRG 395 — OTHER DIGESTIVE SYSTEM DIAGNOSES WITHOUT CC/MCC (MDC 06)

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 K90.81 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 K90.81 itself; “inherited from” names the category or block whose note applies here.

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).

Source: inherited from K90

Coder workflow for K90.81

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

Before you code K90.81

  1. Check the Excludes1 note: if the documentation supports a condition named there, do not simply proceed with K90.81. 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 K90.81’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.

    ReviewK91.2

Consider K90.81. 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 K90.81(1 note)

    Coding workflow: If the documentation supports a condition named in this note, do not simply proceed with K90.81: the two are not reported together. The one exception is when the record shows the two conditions are unrelated to each other.

    CompareK91.2

    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 K90.81 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).

ReviewK91.2

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

Whipple's disease is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (K90.81).

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 11: Diseases of the Digestive System (K00-K95)

Reserved for future guideline expansion

Verify Before Coding

  • CC as a secondary diagnosis (FY2026). Can raise the stay's MS-DRG severity tier.

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 K90.81 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 10 Excludes1 notes across 2 chapters: E40 — Kwashiorkor (via K90.-), E40-E46 — Malnutrition (E40-E46) (via K90.-), E41 — Nutritional marasmus (via K90.-), E42 — Marasmic kwashiorkor (via K90.-), E43 — Unspecified severe protein-calorie malnutrition (via K90.-), E44 — Protein-calorie malnutrition of moderate and mild degree (via K90.-), E45 — Retarded development following protein-calorie malnutrition (via K90.-), E46 — Unspecified protein-calorie malnutrition (via K90.-), E88.1 — Lipodystrophy, not elsewhere classified, K59 — Other functional intestinal disorders (via K90.-).

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

Referenced by 1 Code First instruction: M14.8 — Arthropathies in other specified diseases classified elsewhere.

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: CC — Complication or Comorbidity. Reported as a secondary diagnosis, this code raises the stay's MS-DRG severity tier — except when the principal diagnosis is one of 1 clinically related codes on its CMS exclusion list.

Named in the grouper logic of 3 MS-DRGs: DRG 393 (MDC 06), DRG 394 (MDC 06), DRG 395 (MDC 06).

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

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):DIG025 — Other specified and unspecified gastrointestinal disorders (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 (Other specified and unspecified gastrointestinal disorders).

K66.9 — Disorder of peritoneum, unspecified, K68.2 — Retroperitoneal fibrosis, K68.3 — Retroperitoneal hematoma, K68.9 — Other disorders of retroperitoneum, K90.0 — Celiac disease, K90.1 — Tropical sprue, K90.2 — Blind loop syndrome, not elsewhere classified, K90.4 — Other malabsorption due to intolerance, K90.41 — Non-celiac gluten sensitivity, K90.49 — Malabsorption due to intolerance, not elsewhere classified, K90.821 — Short bowel syndrome with colon in continuity, K90.822 — Short bowel syndrome without colon in continuity, K90.829 — Short bowel syndrome, unspecified, K90.83 — Intestinal failure, K90.89 — Other intestinal malabsorption, K90.9 — Intestinal malabsorption, unspecified, K92.81 — Gastrointestinal mucositis (ulcerative), K92.89 — Other specified diseases of the digestive system, K92.9 — Disease of digestive system, unspecified, M35.08 — Sjögren syndrome with gastrointestinal involvement, +64 more

Same Index main term, other category

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

E88.13 — Localized lipodystrophy (insulin), E88.14 — HIV-associated lipodystrophy (HIV-associated), E88.19 — Other lipodystrophy, not elsewhere classified (specified type NEC), E88.9 — Metabolic disorder, unspecified (in, metabolic disease NOS), G95.0 — Syringomyelia and syringobulbia (syringomyelic), G98.0 — Neurogenic arthritis, not elsewhere classified (neuropathic, nonsyphilitic NEC), I33.0 — Acute and subacute infective endocarditis (in, infective endocarditis), J38.7 — Other diseases of larynx (cricoarytenoid), K51.90 — Ulcerative colitis, unspecified, without complications (in, ulcerative colitis NEC), K65.4 — Sclerosing mesenteritis (mesenteric), L40.50 — Arthropathic psoriasis, unspecified (in, psoriasis NOS), L40.51 — Distal interphalangeal psoriatic arthropathy (distal interphalangeal, psoriatic), L40.52 — Psoriatic arthritis mutilans (mutilans), L40.54 — Psoriatic juvenile arthropathy (juvenile, psoriatic), L40.59 — Other psoriatic arthropathy (psoriatic NEC), L51.9 — Erythema multiforme, unspecified (in, erythema, multiforme), L52 — Erythema nodosum (in, erythema, nodosum), M02.00 — Arthropathy following intestinal bypass, unspecified site (following intestinal bypass), M02.01 — Arthropathy following intestinal bypass, shoulder (following intestinal bypass, shoulder), M02.02 — Arthropathy following intestinal bypass, elbow (following intestinal bypass, elbow), +119 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.

Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT)

Contextual Map

Every relationship of K90.81 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 K90.81 with these 9 related codes in Claim Check

Hierarchy

Referenced by Excludes1 notes (10)

Referenced by Code First instructions

Clinical classification (CCSR)

MS-DRG Grouper

MDC crossing

  • MDC 06 — Diseases and Disorders of the Digestive System[MDC crossing]: “Diseases and Disorders of the Digestive System — 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. 5,744 same-MDC procedures group here; browse them on the MDC page.”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual · FY2026

Index entries

  • Arthropathy, in (due to), Whipple's disease[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Lipodystrophy, intestinal[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Whipple's disease[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026

Nearest codes (16)

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. "K90.81 — Whipple's disease." ICD-10-CM FY2026. https://medcoder.ai/icd10/code/k90.81-whipples-disease

Change history

  • FY2016 — October 1, 2015
    In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption
    Whipple's disease

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 K90.81 in its code family, with their registry titles.

View all codes in the K90 family