Chest pain ICD-10 code
The ICD-10-CM code for chest pain is R07.9 (chest pain, unspecified). It is billable and valid for submission on a claim. There are 14 related codes, and which one you use depends on what the documentation supports.
Also written as cp.
The mistake coders make here
R07.9 is unspecified. If the chart says the pain is pleuritic (R07.1) or precordial (R07.2), those are more specific. And if a cardiac cause is established, the symptom code is no longer appropriate at all.
Putting chest pain on a claim? Check the claim’s diagnosis codes free: Excludes1 conflicts, header codes and missing seventh characters, before it goes out.
ICD-10-CM codes for chest pain
9 of 14 are billable. Green means you can submit it as-is.
| Code | Use it when |
|---|---|
| R07.9 | Chest pain, unspecified |
| R07.89 | Other chest pain |
| R07.1 | Chest pain on breathing |
| R07.2 | Precordial pain |
| R07 | Pain in throat and chestnot billable on its own |
| R07.8 | Other chest painnot billable on its own |
| R07.0 | Pain in throat |
| R07.82 | Intercostal pain |
| R07.81 | Pleurodynia |
| I20.9 | Angina pectoris, unspecified |
| I25.119 | Atherosclerotic heart disease of native coronary artery with unspecified angina pectoris |
| S22.5 | Flail chestnot billable on its own |
| S28.0 | Crushed chestnot billable on its own |
| I70.22 | Atherosclerosis of native arteries of extremities with rest painnot billable on its own |
Once you have the code
- Check the whole claim: Excludes1 conflicts and missing seventh characters, free
- Denial codes explained: what CO-16, CO-97 and the rest actually mean
- Decision guides: walk a chart note to a code, guideline cited
- Everything here that is free, and the one thing no free tool includes
Five symptom codes, and they are not interchangeable
R07.9 is chest pain unspecified. R07.89 is other chest pain, and it is where atypical chest pain, chest wall pain and musculoskeletal chest pain index. R07.1 is chest pain on breathing (pleuritic), R07.2 is precordial pain, R07.81 is pleurodynia and R07.82 is intercostal pain. 'Chest tightness' and 'chest pressure' index to R07.89. Substernal or retrosternal chest pain is R07.2 only when documented as precordial; otherwise R07.89. A coder should not upgrade R07.9 to R07.89 without the descriptive word in the note.
When it is angina, and the presumed link to coronary disease
Once the provider documents angina the symptom code is replaced: I20.9 angina unspecified, I20.0 unstable angina, I20.1 with documented spasm, I20.8- other forms including I20.81 stable angina (the stable/unspecified split was added in FY2024). If the patient also has coronary artery disease, Guideline I.C.9.b presumes the angina is due to it and a combination code from I25.11- is assigned (I25.110 with unstable angina, I25.118 with other angina, I25.119 with unspecified angina) instead of I25.10 plus I20.-. A myocardial infarction confirmed on the workup is I21.- and the chest pain is not coded.
Non-cardiac causes and the outpatient rule-out
Chest pain the provider attributes to GERD is coded to the GERD (K21.-); to costochondritis, M94.0; to anxiety or panic, the F41 code, with the R07 code dropped once the cause is documented. In the ED or the office a 'rule out MI' that is not confirmed is coded to the chest pain, never to I21, because uncertain diagnoses are not coded in the outpatient setting. Z03.89 (encounter for observation for other suspected conditions ruled out) applies only when the patient has no symptoms at all; a symptomatic patient gets the symptom code.
Common questions
- What is the ICD-10 code for chest pain, unspecified?
- R07.9. If the note describes the pain as atypical, chest-wall or musculoskeletal, R07.89 is more specific; pleuritic chest pain is R07.1 and precordial pain is R07.2.
- What is the ICD-10 code for atypical chest pain?
- R07.89, other chest pain. Atypical chest pain indexes here rather than to R07.9.
- How do I code chest pain when angina and CAD are both documented?
- With a combination code from I25.11-: I25.110 for CAD with unstable angina, I25.118 with other angina, I25.119 with unspecified angina. The chest pain symptom code is not reported.