Is K95.81 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. K95.81 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does K95.81 sit in the tabular list?

Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K95), in the block Other diseases of the digestive system (K90-K95).

What cannot be coded together with K95.81?

K95.81 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter. Some are written on the categories above K95.81 (K95.8) and apply to it just the same.

K95.81

K95.81 — Infection due to other bariatric procedure

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

K95.81 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for infection due to other bariatric procedure. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Use additional code

Add a secondary code to capture the detail described below.

code to specify type of infection or organism, such as:
bacterial and viral infectious agents (B95.-, B96.-)
cellulitis of abdominal wall (L03.311)
sepsis (A40.-, A41.-)

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above K95.81

These are not written on K95.81, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing K95.81 with anything listed here is a denial.

Written on K95.8 — Complications of other bariatric procedure

complications of gastric band surgery (K95.0-)

Risk adjustment

K95.81 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

K95.81 is named in 2 Medicare coverage policies — 2 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.

A56421Billing and Coding: CT of the Abdomen and Pelvis
A56422Billing and Coding: Bariatric Surgical Management of Morbid Obesity

How K95.81 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 K95.81.

Complication›bariatric procedure›specified procedure NEC›infection

Code history

K95.81 has not changed since FY2024 — no addition, revision or deletion across the three most recent ICD-10-CM releases.

Related codes at this level

Codes that share K95.8. If K95.81 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

K95.89Other complications of other bariatric procedure

Questions about K95.81

Is K95.81 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. K95.81 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does K95.81 sit in the tabular list?: Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K95), in the block Other diseases of the digestive system (K90-K95).
What cannot be coded together with K95.81?: K95.81 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter. Some are written on the categories above K95.81 (K95.8) and apply to it just the same.