H68.129Intrinsic cartilagenous obstruction of Eustachian tube, unspecified ear

H68.129 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for intrinsic cartilagenous obstruction of Eustachian tube, unspecified ear. It belongs to category H68 (eustachian salpingitis and obstruction), block H65-H75 (diseases of middle ear and mastoid) and chapter 8 (diseases of the ear and mastoid process). It is billable, so it can be reported on its own for dates of service from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

Within H68.12, choose H68.129 (unspecified ear) only when documentation doesn't support a more specific option: right ear (H68.121), left ear (H68.122) and bilateral (H68.123).

It is not a CC or MCC, so as a secondary diagnosis it doesn't change the MS-DRG severity level.

In MS-DRG v44.0, it is part of the grouping logic for DRG 154 (Other Ear, Nose, Mouth and Throat Diagnoses with MCC, relative weight 1.5921), DRG 155 (Other Ear, Nose, Mouth and Throat Diagnoses with CC, relative weight 0.9322) and DRG 156 (Other Ear, Nose, Mouth and Throat Diagnoses without CC/MCC, relative weight 0.6659), in MDC 03 (Diseases and Disorders of the Ear, Nose, Mouth and Throat), as a principal or secondary diagnosis. The DRG a claim lands in depends on the principal diagnosis, procedures and any CC/MCC secondary diagnoses.

It has been part of ICD-10-CM since the code set took effect on October 1, 2015 and hasn't changed since.

Before ICD-10, this condition was coded in ICD-9-CM as 381.62 (intrinsic cartilagenous obstruction of Eustachian tube).