K12.2 — Cellulitis and abscess of mouth
K12.2 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for cellulitis and abscess of mouth. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Excludes2 — not included here, but may coexist
The excluded condition is not part of this code, but a patient can have both. You may code both.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Cellulitis of mouth (floor)
- Submandibular abscess
Risk adjustment
K12.2 does not map to an HCC and does not risk-adjust under CMS-HCC V28. That is normal — most ICD-10 codes do not. It still needs to be coded correctly; it just will not move a RAF score.
Medicare coverage
K12.2 is named in 10 Medicare coverage policies — 10 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A53058Billing and Coding: Home Health Physical Therapy
- A54111Billing and Coding: Speech Language Pathology (SLP) Services: Communication Disorders
- A56729Billing and Coding: Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Head and Neck
- A56766Billing and Coding: Incision and Drainage (I&D) of Abscess of Skin, Subcutaneous and Accessory Structures
How K12.2 is indexed
Coders do not find codes by browsing the tabular list — they look them up in the alphabetic index, under the word the physician wrote. These are the index entries that lead here, so you can see which chart wordings map to K12.2.
- Ludwig's angina or disease
- Staphylitis(acute) (catarrhal) (chronic) (gangrenous) (membranous) (suppurative) (ulcerative)
- Uvulitis(acute) (catarrhal) (chronic) (membranous) (suppurative) (ulcerative)
- Abscess›buccal cavity
- Abscess›mouth(floor)
- Abscess›palate(soft)
- Abscess›sublingual
- Abscess›submandibular(region) (space) (triangle)
- Abscess›uvula
- Angina›Ludovici
- Angina›Ludwig's
- Cellulitis›mouth(floor)
Related codes at this level
Codes that share K12. If K12.2 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about K12.2
- Is K12.2 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. K12.2 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does K12.2 sit in the tabular list?
- Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K95), in the block Diseases of oral cavity and salivary glands (K00-K14).