J01

Header — not billable

Acute sinusitis

The ICD-10 code for acute sinusitis is J01.

J01 is a non-billable header code. It groups related conditions but cannot be used on its own for reimbursement — select one of the 7 more specific codes below.

Clinical notes

Excludes1 (not coded here)

An Excludes1 note is a pure exclusion: the excluded condition and this code should never be reported together, because the two conditions cannot occur at the same time (e.g. a congenital form vs. an acquired form of the same disease).

sinusitis NOS (J32.9)

Excludes2 (not included here)

An Excludes2 note means the excluded condition is not part of this one, but a patient can have both at the same time — in that case both codes may be reported together.

chronic sinusitis (J32.0-J32.8)

Includes

Terms listed here further define or give examples of the conditions grouped under this code — they describe what the code covers, not a separate diagnosis.

acute abscess of sinus
acute empyema of sinus
acute infection of sinus
acute inflammation of sinus
acute suppuration of sinus

Use additional code

This code represents an underlying condition. When a related manifestation is also present, coding convention calls for an additional code to be listed after this one.

code (B95-B97) to identify infectious agent.

Documentation support

General coding-documentation guidance — not a substitute for payer-specific requirements or professional coding judgment.

•This is a non-billable header code. Documentation must support a more specific child code before this diagnosis can be reported on a claim.
•Confirm the excluded condition(s) listed above are not also present — Excludes1 conditions cannot be coded together with this one.
•If the associated manifestation or related condition noted above is also documented, an additional code should be reported alongside this one.
•As a general rule, code to the highest level of specificity supported by the documentation in the medical record.

J01