AHA Coding Clinic® for ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS - 2025 Issue 1; Ask the Editor

Bartholin’s Abscess Complicating Delivery

A patient underwent a repeat low transverse cesarean section. During surgery, a large right Bartholin’s abscess was drained and marsupialized. It appears that an additional code should be reported to capture the Bartholin’s abscess which is a specific type of infection. However, there is an Excludes1 note at the beginning of categories N70-N77 that prohibits assigning code N75.1, Abscess of Bartholin’s gland, with codes in category O23, Infections of genitourinary tract in pregnancy, as well as code O75.3, Other infection during labor. In addition, the Alphabetic Index under “Pregnancy, complicated by, abscess or cellulitis,” leads to an unspecified code that describes unspecified genitourinary tract infection in pregnancy (O23.9). Code O23.593, Infection of other part of genital tract in pregnancy, third trimester, seems more appropriate. Would code O75.3 or code O23.593 be appropriate to report for the Bartholin’s abscess that was found during the delivery? ...

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