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Otolaryngology Coding Alert

Otolaryngology Coding:

Determine Sinuses Affected Before Assigning Dx in This Recurrent Sinusitis Encounter

Published on Fri Sep 26, 2025

Question: A patient came to our office complaining of headaches, facial pain, and nasal congestion lasting for almost four weeks. Our otolaryngologist diagnosed the patient with acute recurrent sinusitis. Do I code this with J01.80, J01.81, or J01.91? Washington Subscriber Answer: As your otolaryngologist documented the sinusitis was recurrent, you cannot use J01.80 (Other acute sinusitis), as the word “recurrent” does [...]
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Otolaryngology Coding Alert