2024 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code L03.90

Cellulitis, unspecified

ICD-10-CM Code:
L03.90
ICD-10 Code for:
Cellulitis, unspecified
Is Billable?
Yes - Valid for Submission
Chronic Condition Indicator: [1]
Not chronic
Code Navigator:

Code Classification

  • Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue
    (L00–L99)
    • Infections of the skin and subcutaneous tissue
      (L00-L08)
      • Cellulitis and acute lymphangitis
        (L03)

L03.90 is a billable diagnosis code used to specify a medical diagnosis of cellulitis, unspecified. The code is valid during the current fiscal year for the submission of HIPAA-covered transactions from October 01, 2023 through September 30, 2024.

Unspecified diagnosis codes like L03.90 are acceptable when clinical information is unknown or not available about a particular condition. Although a more specific code is preferable, unspecified codes should be used when such codes most accurately reflect what is known about a patient's condition. Specific diagnosis codes should not be used if not supported by the patient's medical record.

Approximate Synonyms

The following clinical terms are approximate synonyms or lay terms that might be used to identify the correct diagnosis code:

  • Acute bacterial paronychia
  • Acute cellulitis
  • Bacterial cellulitis
  • Bacterial paronychia
  • Bacterial paronychia
  • Cellulitis
  • Cellulitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus
  • Cellulitis of digit
  • Cellulitis of skin
  • Cellulitis of skin with lymphangitis
  • Cellulitis with lymphangitis of digit
  • Chronic paronychia
  • Extensive postoperative wound cellulitis
  • Gram-negative bacterial cellulitis
  • Gram-negative bacterial cellulitis
  • Haemophilus cellulitis
  • Injection site cellulitis
  • Injection site inflammation
  • Mucormycotic gangrenous cellulitis
  • Onychia
  • Onychia
  • Paronychia
  • Postoperative wound cellulitis
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection of nail
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa paronychia
  • Recurrent cellulitis
  • Streptococcal cellulitis
  • Traumatic onychia
  • Vaccination site cellulitis
  • Wound cellulitis
  • Wound cellulitis
  • Wound cellulitis
  • Wound inflammation
  • Wound inflammation

Clinical Classification

Clinical Information

  • Cellulitis

    an acute, diffuse, and suppurative inflammation of loose connective tissue, particularly the deep subcutaneous tissues, and sometimes muscle, which is most commonly seen as a result of infection of a wound, ulcer, or other skin lesions.
  • Orbital Cellulitis

    inflammation of the loose connective tissues around the orbit, bony structure around the eyeball. it is characterized by pain; edema of the conjunctiva; swelling of the eyelids; exophthalmos; limited eye movement; and loss of vision.
  • Parametritis

    inflammation of the parametrium, the connective tissue of the pelvic floor, extending from the subserous coat of the uterus laterally between the layers of the broad ligament.
  • Paronychia

    an inflammatory reaction involving the folds of the skin surrounding the fingernail. it is characterized by acute or chronic purulent, tender, and painful swellings of the tissues around the nail, caused by an abscess of the nail fold. the pathogenic yeast causing paronychia is most frequently candida albicans. saprophytic fungi may also be involved. the causative bacteria are usually staphylococcus, pseudomonas aeruginosa, or streptococcus. (andrews' diseases of the skin, 8th ed, p271)
  • Broad Ligament

    a broad fold of peritoneum that extends from the side of the uterus to the wall of the pelvis.
  • Grade 1 Paronychia, CTCAE|Grade 1 Paronychia

    nail fold edema or erythema; disruption of the cuticle
  • Grade 2 Paronychia, CTCAE|Grade 2 Paronychia

    local intervention indicated; oral intervention indicated (e.g., antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral); nail fold edema or erythema with pain; associated with discharge or nail plate separation; limiting instrumental adl
  • Grade 3 Paronychia, CTCAE|Grade 3 Paronychia

    operative intervention indicated; iv antibiotics indicated; limiting self care adl
  • Paronychia

    an acute or chronic infection of the soft tissues around the nail. symptoms include pain, tenderness, erythema, and swelling around the nail. acute infection results from minor trauma to the fingertip and staphylococcus aureus is usually the causative agent. chronic infection is usually caused by candida albicans.
  • Paronychia, CTCAE|Paronychia|Paronychia

    a disorder characterized by an infectious process involving the soft tissues around the nail.
  • Paronychial Inflammation

    swelling and redness of the nail folds.

Index to Diseases and Injuries References

The following annotation back-references for this diagnosis code are found in the injuries and diseases index. The Index to Diseases and Injuries is an alphabetical listing of medical terms, with each term mapped to one or more ICD-10-CM code(s).

Convert L03.90 to ICD-9-CM

  • ICD-9-CM Code: 682.9 - Cellulitis NOS
    Approximate Flag - The approximate mapping means there is not an exact match between the ICD-10 and ICD-9 codes and the mapped code is not a precise representation of the original code.

Patient Education


Cellulitis

Cellulitis is an infection of the skin and deep underlying tissues. Group A strep (streptococcal) bacteria are the most common cause. The bacteria enter your body when you get an injury such as a bruise, burn, surgical cut, or wound.

Symptoms include:

  • Fever and chills
  • Swollen glands or lymph nodes
  • A rash with painful, red, tender skin. The skin may blister and scab over.

Your health care provider may take a sample or culture from your skin or do a blood test to identify the bacteria causing infection. Treatment is with antibiotics. They may be oral in mild cases, or intravenous (by IV) for more severe cases.


[Learn More in MedlinePlus]

Code History

  • FY 2024 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2023 through 9/30/2024
  • FY 2023 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2022 through 9/30/2023
  • FY 2022 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2021 through 9/30/2022
  • FY 2021 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2020 through 9/30/2021
  • FY 2020 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2019 through 9/30/2020
  • FY 2019 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2018 through 9/30/2019
  • FY 2018 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2017 through 9/30/2018
  • FY 2017 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2016 through 9/30/2017
  • FY 2016 - New Code, effective from 10/1/2015 through 9/30/2016. This was the first year ICD-10-CM was implemented into the HIPAA code set.

Footnotes

[1] Not chronic - A diagnosis code that does not fit the criteria for chronic condition (duration, ongoing medical treatment, and limitations) is considered not chronic. Some codes designated as not chronic are acute conditions. Other diagnosis codes that indicate a possible chronic condition, but for which the duration of the illness is not specified in the code description (i.e., we do not know the condition has lasted 12 months or longer) also are considered not chronic.