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  5. Hypothermia (T68)

Hypothermia (T68)

The ICD-10 code T68 is used specifically to identify hypothermia, a condition where the body’s temperature falls below the normal reference range due to exposure to cold environments. This coding helps distinguish between the initial diagnosis, follow-up care, and complications arising from hypothermia.

These codes cover various situations linked to accidental hypothermia, also known as immersion hypothermia or unplanned perioperative hypothermia. For instance, T68.XXXA represents the initial encounter for treatment, T68.XXXD indicates subsequent encounters, and T68.XXXS is used for sequela, or long-term effects resulting from hypothermia. This section assists healthcare professionals and medical coders in accurately documenting cases where the patient suffers from cold-related body temperature drops, including vulnerable groups like elderly persons and cases involving coagulation issues like thrombocytopenia. Using these codes ensures precise reporting of hypothermia due to effects of exposure to extreme temperature, which is vital for appropriate clinical management and billing.

Instructional Notations

Inclusion Terms

These terms are the conditions for which that code is to be used. The terms may be synonyms of the code title, or, in the case of "other specified" codes, the terms are a list of the various conditions assigned to that code. The inclusion terms are not necessarily exhaustive. Additional terms found only in the Alphabetic Index may also be assigned to a code.

  • Accidental hypothermia
  • Hypothermia NOS

Use Additional Code

The “use additional code” indicates that a secondary code could be used to further specify the patient’s condition. This note is not mandatory and is only used if enough information is available to assign an additional code.

  • code to identify source of exposure:
  • Exposure to excessive cold of man-made origin W93
  • Exposure to excessive cold of natural origin X31

Type 1 Excludes

A type 1 excludes note is a pure excludes note. It means "NOT CODED HERE!" An Excludes1 note indicates that the code excluded should never be used at the same time as the code above the Excludes1 note. An Excludes1 is used when two conditions cannot occur together, such as a congenital form versus an acquired form of the same condition.

  • hypothermia following anesthesia T88.51
  • hypothermia not associated with low environmental temperature R68.0
  • hypothermia of newborn P80

Type 2 Excludes

A type 2 excludes note represents "Not included here". An excludes2 note indicates that the condition excluded is not part of the condition represented by the code, but a patient may have both conditions at the same time. When an Excludes2 note appears under a code, it is acceptable to use both the code and the excluded code together, when appropriate.

7th Character Note

Certain ICD-10-CM categories have applicable 7th characters. The applicable 7th character is required for all codes within the category, or as the notes in the Tabular List instruct. The 7th character must always be the 7th character in the data field. If a code that requires a 7th character is not 6 characters, a placeholder X must be used to fill in the empty characters.

  • The appropriate 7th character is to be added to code T68

7th Character

Indicates that a seventh character is to be assigned to codes in a subcategory.

  • A - initial encounter
  • D - subsequent encounter
  • S - sequela