Do you have a patient complaining of stomach pain with no clear cause? Not sure what to write in their chart? Not to worry! You can use the ICD-10 codes for abdominal pain to indicate specifically what kind of discomfort they’re suffering even if you aren’t sure of the cause. In this article, I’ll list the abdominal pain ICD-10 codes starting with R10.*, plus a few key guidelines for using them.
Feature image: Michael Mandiberg/Flickr
What Are the ICD-10 Codes for Abdominal Pain?
Here are all the ICD-10 codes for different forms of abdominal pain. Two quick qualifiers:
- You cannot record the code for renal colic alongside abdominal pain codes.
- Abdominal pain codes do not cover dorsalgia or flatulence and related conditions, but the codes for these conditions can be used in conjunction with abdominal pain codes.
All codes begin with R10, the general code for abdominal and pelvic pain, and then up to three numbers can be added to that code for a more specific diagnosis.
- Abdominal and pelvic pain: R10
- Acute abdomen: R10.0
- Pain localized to upper abdomen: R10.1
- Upper abdominal pain, unspecified R10.10
- Right upper quadrant pain: R10.11
- Left upper quadrant pain: R10.12
- Epigastric pain: R10.13
- Pelvic and perineal pain: R10.2
- Pain localized to other parts of lower abdomen: R10.3
- Lower abdominal pain, unspecified: R10.30
- Right lower quadrant pain: R10.31
- Left lower quadrant pain: R10.32
- Periumbilical pain: R10.33
- Other abdominal pain: R10.8
- Abdominal tenderness: R10.81
- Right upper quadrant abdominal tenderness: R10.811
- Left upper quadrant abdominal tenderness: R10.812
- Right lower quadrant abdominal tenderness: R10.813
- Left lower quadrant abdominal tenderness: R10.814
- Periumbilic abdominal tenderness: R10.815
- Epigastric abdominal tenderness: R10.816
- Generalized abdominal tenderness: R10.817
- …… unspecified site: R10.819
- Rebound abdominal tenderness: R10.82
- Right upper quadrant rebound abdominal tenderness: R10.821
- Left upper quadrant rebound abdominal tenderness: R10.822
- Right lower quadrant rebound abdominal tenderness: R10.823
- Left lower quadrant rebound abdominal tenderness: R10.824
- Periumbilic rebound abdominal tenderness: R10.825
- Epigastric rebound abdominal tenderness: R10.826
- Generalized rebound abdominal tenderness: R10.827
- …… unspecified site: R10.829
- Colic: R10.83
- Generalized abdominal pain: R10.84
- Abdominal tenderness: R10.81
- Unspecified abdominal pain: R10.9
ICD-9 to ICD-10 Codes for Abdominal Pain Conversion Table
In case you’re wondering what the abdominal pain codes were under the old ICD system, here’s a table that translates between ICD-9 and ICD-10. There weren’t as many ICD-9 codes to describe abdominal pain, so some of them may correspond to more than one code under the more specific ICD-10 system.
| ICD-9 | ICD-10 |
| 789.0 | R10 |
| 789.00 | R10.9 |
| 789.01 | R10.11 |
| 789.02 | R10.12 |
| 789.03 | R10.31 |
| 789.04 | R10.32 |
| 789.05 | R10.33 |
| 789.06 | R10.13 |
| 789.07 | R10.84 |
| 789.09 | R10.10, R10.2, or R10.30 |
| 789.6 | R10.81 |
| 789.60 | R10.819 or R10.829 |
| 789.61 | R10.811 or R10.821 |
| 789.62 | R10.812 or R10.822 |
| 789.63 | R10.813 or R10.823 |
| 789.64 | R10.814 or R10.824 |
| 789.65 | R10.815 or R10.825 |
| 789.66 | R10.816 or R10.826 |
| 789.67 | R10.817 or R10.827 |
| 789.69 | R10.819 or R10.829 |
| 789.7 | R10.83 |
Guidelines on Using ICD-10 Codes for Abdominal Pain
Since the codes for abdominal pain describe symptoms and not specific diagnoses, they are mostly used when a conclusive diagnosis has not yet been determined. These codes may also be used when the abdominal pain symptom occurs alongside a diagnosis that is not typically associated with it, but the code for the main diagnosis should always be recorded first.
The “unspecified” codes should be used when information in the patient’s record isn’t sufficient to assign a more specific code. Always be as accurate as possible when recording these codes; record the highest number of characters you can based on the information given. If abdominal pain occurs in two or more places (i.e. right upper quadrant and left upper quadrant), assign a separate code for each location.
For more guidelines on using abdominal pain ICD-10 codes, you can consult this document.
What Are ICD-10 Codes?
ICD (International Classification of Diseases) codes are a way for doctors to record diagnoses in a succinct universal language. ICD-10 codes refer to the codes from the 10th Revision of this classification system. These codes consist of three to seven characters (both letters and numbers).
ICD-10 officially replaced ICD-9 in the US in October of 2015. This was a response to the need for doctors to record more specific and accurate diagnoses in up-to-date terms. There are five times more ICD-10 codes than there were ICD-9 codes!