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J34.0 for abscess of nasal sidewall?

C

CatchTheWind

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Boca Raton, FL
Our EMR is coding abscess of the nasal sidwall as J34.0 (Abscess, furuncle and carbuncle of nose). Since this code falls under "Other diseases of upper respiratory tract." I would think that it should be used for lesions inside the nose (since the skin of the outside of the nose is not part of the respiratory tract) and would use L02.01 (cutaneous abscess of face).

Which is correct?
 
Hopefully you got an answer. The 2019 alphabetic takes us to Abscess> Nasal> J32.9 Chronic Sinusitis. The tabular has an Includes note for Sinus Abscess under the J32 category.

It didn't make since to me at first because there are non-respiratory conditions that could cause a nare abscess, but that's what we get.
 
So it seems that J34.0 refers to an abscess inside the nose. An abscess of the outer skin of the nose would fall in the dermatology section, so the code would be L02.01.
 
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