O75.1 vs R55
O75.1 and R55 can never be reported together. ICD-10-CM declares them mutually exclusive with an Excludes1 note, meaning the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient — so exactly one of them is correct for any given encounter.
The official note, declared on R55
shock complicating or following labor and delivery (O75.1)
O75.1
Shock during or following labor and delivery
Billable
- Chapter 15
- Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium
- Section
- O60-O77
Use when the record says
- Obstetric shock following labor and delivery
Indexed under
- Shock › during or after labor and delivery
- Shock › obstetric
- Collapse › circulatory › during or after labor and delivery
- Collapse › during or › after labor and delivery
- Collapse › vascular › during or after labor and delivery
R55
Syncope and collapse
Billable
- Chapter 18
- Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
- Section
- R50-R69
Use when the record says
- Blackout
- Fainting
- Vasovagal attack
Indexed under
- Blackout
- Collapse
- Fainting (fit)
- Near-syncope
- Pre-syncope
These two codes sit in different chapters of the Tabular List, which is usually the clearest signal that they describe different underlying processes rather than different degrees of the same one.
Excludes1 is not always absolute: where two conditions covered by the note are genuinely unrelated, CMS guidance permits reporting both. Document the reasoning rather than assuming it. More on Excludes1 vs Excludes2 · FY2027