I26Pulmonary embolism

I26 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for pulmonary embolism. It belongs to block I26-I28 (pulmonary heart disease and diseases of pulmonary circulation) and chapter 9 (diseases of the circulatory system). It is a header code, so it can't be reported by itself; one of its 2 subcodes must be used instead.

To report this condition, pick the subcode that matches the documentation: I26.0 (with acute cor pulmonale) and I26.9 (without acute cor pulmonale).

Don't report I26 together with the conditions in its Excludes1 note: cor pulmonale without embolism (I27.81).

The conditions in its Excludes2 note aren't part of I26, but may be coded alongside it if the patient has both: chronic pulmonary embolism (I27.82), personal history of pulmonary embolism (Z86.711), pulmonary embolism complicating abortion, ectopic or molar pregnancy (O00-O07, O08.2), pulmonary embolism complicating pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O88.-) and 3 more.

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