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R29.5 ICD-10-CM Code: Transient paralysis

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

Coding at a Glance

Tabular directives
1 Excludes1 · 1 code-first instruction

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 091 — OTHER DISORDERS OF NERVOUS SYSTEM WITH MCC (MDC 01)
  • MS-DRG 092 — OTHER DISORDERS OF NERVOUS SYSTEM WITH CC (MDC 01)
  • MS-DRG 093 — OTHER DISORDERS OF NERVOUS SYSTEM WITHOUT CC/MCC (MDC 01)

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 R29.5 in the official ICD-10-CM tabular list, quoted as published.

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

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).

Code First

Underlying conditions that must be sequenced before this code.

Coder workflow for R29.5

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

Before you code R29.5

  1. Check whether an established diagnosis that explains this sign or symptom is documented. If one is, review whether the documented diagnosis changes the coding pathway: a symptom that is integral to a confirmed diagnosis is not reported separately, while one not routinely associated with it may be. Signs and symptoms are reported when no definitive diagnosis is established (Guidelines I.B.4, I.B.5, I.B.6, I.C.18.b).

    Guide: Symptom code vs confirmed diagnosis →

  2. Check the Excludes1 note: if the documentation supports a condition named there, do not simply proceed with R29.5. 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. Is an established diagnosis that explains this sign or symptom documented?
    Yes → Review whether the documented diagnosis changes the coding pathway: a symptom integral to it is not reported separately.
    No → Continue — the sign or symptom code stands when no definitive diagnosis is established.
  2. Does the documentation support a condition named in R29.5’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.

    ReviewG45.9

  3. Is the underlying (etiologic) condition the Code First note names documented?
    Yes → Sequence the underlying condition first, then R29.5.
    No → Continue; do not add an underlying condition the record does not document.

    ReviewS14.0, S14.1, S24.0, S24.1, S34.0, S34.1

Consider R29.5. 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).
The underlying (etiologic) condition
Named in the Code First note; sequenced before this code when documented (Guidelines I.A.13).

Official instructions as workflow

  • Excludes1 — check before selecting R29.5(1 note)

    Coding workflow: If the documentation supports a condition named in this note, do not simply proceed with R29.5: the two are not reported together. The one exception is when the record shows the two conditions are unrelated to each other.

    CompareG45.9

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

  • Code First — sequencing check(1 note)

    Coding workflow: Check whether the underlying or etiologic condition the note names is documented. When it is, sequence it before R29.5. Do not add an underlying condition the record does not document.

    ReviewS14.0, S14.1, S24.0, S24.1, S34.0, S34.1

    See the official tabular notes · Guidelines I.A.13

Coding decision scenarios

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

Documentation: The sign or symptom is documented, and the same record establishes a diagnosis that routinely includes it.

Coding question: Is R29.5 reported in addition to the diagnosis?

Path: Review the documented diagnosis and whether the classification treats this finding as integral to it.

Reason: Signs and symptoms integral to a confirmed diagnosis are not coded separately; those not routinely associated with it may be reported when present (Guidelines I.B.5, I.B.6, I.C.18.b).

Documentation: Both the condition R29.5 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).

ReviewG45.9

Documentation: The underlying condition the Code First note names is documented alongside this condition.

Coding question: How are the two sequenced?

Path: Review the Code First note.

Reason: The underlying condition is sequenced first and the manifestation follows (Guidelines I.A.13).

ReviewS14.0, S14.1, S24.0, S24.1, S34.0, S34.1

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

Transient paralysis is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (R29.5).

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 (1)

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.

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 R29.5 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 3 Code Also instructions: S14 — Injury of nerves and spinal cord at neck level, S24 — Injury of nerves and spinal cord at thorax level, S34 — Injury of lumbar and sacral spinal cord and nerves at abdomen, lower back and pelvis level.

These codes suggest coding this condition alongside when both are present.

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 2 clinically related codes on its CMS exclusion list.

Named in the grouper logic of 3 MS-DRGs: DRG 091 (MDC 01), DRG 092 (MDC 01), DRG 093 (MDC 01).

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

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):SYM010 — Nervous system signs and symptoms (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 process (MS-DRG)

Acts as CC — raises the severity of other admissions. CMS groups these diagnoses into one MS-DRG principal-diagnosis exclusion process — a CC/MCC on this list never raises severity when the principal diagnosis is also on it.

R29.810 — Facial weakness

Same clinical category (CCSR)

AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software groups these diagnoses under the same clinical category (Nervous system signs and symptoms).

R26.2 — Difficulty in walking, not elsewhere classified, R26.81 — Unsteadiness on feet, R26.89 — Other abnormalities of gait and mobility, R26.9 — Unspecified abnormalities of gait and mobility, R27.0 — Ataxia, unspecified, R27.8 — Other lack of coordination, R27.9 — Unspecified lack of coordination, R29.0 — Tetany, R29.1 — Meningismus, R29.2 — Abnormal reflex, R29.810 — Facial weakness, R29.818 — Other symptoms and signs involving the nervous system, R29.90 — Unspecified symptoms and signs involving the nervous system, R40.2110 — Coma scale, eyes open, never, unspecified time, R40.2111 — Coma scale, eyes open, never, in the field [EMT or ambulance], R40.2112 — Coma scale, eyes open, never, at arrival to emergency department, R40.2113 — Coma scale, eyes open, never, at hospital admission, R40.2114 — Coma scale, eyes open, never, 24 hours or more after hospital admission, R40.2120 — Coma scale, eyes open, to pain, unspecified time, R40.2121 — Coma scale, eyes open, to pain, in the field [EMT or ambulance], +138 more

Same Index main term, other category

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

K31.84 — Gastroparesis (stomach), K56.0 — Paralytic ileus (ileus), K59.89 — Other specified functional intestinal disorders (digestive organs NEC), K62.89 — Other specified diseases of anus and rectum (anus), N18.9 — Chronic kidney disease, unspecified (uremic), N31.2 — Flaccid neuropathic bladder, not elsewhere classified (bladder), P11.3 — Birth injury to facial nerve (Bell's, newborn), P11.5 — Birth injury to spine and spinal cord (birth injury, spinal cord), P14.0 — Erb's paralysis due to birth injury (Erb), P14.1 — Klumpke's paralysis due to birth injury (Klumpke), P14.2 — Phrenic nerve paralysis due to birth injury (nerve, phrenic), P14.3 — Other brachial plexus birth injuries (brachial plexus, newborn), P14.9 — Birth injury to peripheral nervous system, unspecified (birth injury), P28.89 — Other specified respiratory conditions of newborn (respiratory, newborn), Q87.0 — Congenital malformation syndromes predominantly affecting facial appearance (oculofacial, congenital), R06.81 — Apnea, not elsewhere classified (respiratory), R13.0 — Aphagia (deglutition), R26.1 — Paralytic gait (gait), T70.3 — Caisson disease [decompression sickness] (diver's), T79.6 — Traumatic ischemia of muscle (Volkmann's), +83 more

Contextual Map

Every relationship of R29.5 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 R29.5 with these 10 related codes in Claim Check

Hierarchy

Excludes1

Code First

Referenced by Code Also instructions

Clinical classification (CCSR)

MS-DRG Grouper

MDC crossing

  • MDC 01 — Diseases and Disorders of the Nervous System[MDC crossing]: “Diseases and Disorders of the Nervous 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. 8,892 same-MDC procedures group here; browse them on the MDC page.”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual · FY2026

Index entries

  • Paralysis, paralytic (complete) (incomplete), transient[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026

Nearest codes (40)

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
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. "R29.5 — Transient paralysis." ICD-10-CM FY2026. https://medcoder.ai/icd10/code/r29.5-transient-paralysis

Change history

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

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 R29.5 in its code family, with their registry titles.

View all codes in the R29 family