J38 — Diseases of vocal cords and larynx, not elsewhere classified

Not billable

Is J38 billable?

No — J38 is a non-billable header code. J38 groups more specific codes and cannot be submitted on a claim. A valid ICD-10-CM code must be reported at the highest level of specificity available in its branch. Select one of the 10 billable codes beneath J38.

Billable codes under this header

J38 at a glance

Code	J38
Description	Diseases of vocal cords and larynx, not elsewhere classified
Billable	No — header code
Code set	ICD-10-CM FY2027
Valid for encounters	October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027

Excludes1 — never code together

The conditions below can never be reported together with J38 on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.

congenital laryngeal stridor (P28.89)
obstructive laryngitis (acute) (J05.0)
postprocedural subglottic stenosis (J95.5)
stridor (R06.1)
ulcerative laryngitis (J04.0)

Use additional code — inherited from Chapter 10

Report an additional code alongside J38 to fully describe the condition. J38 is sequenced first.

code, where applicable, to identify:
exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z77.22)
exposure to tobacco smoke in the perinatal period (P96.81)
history of tobacco dependence (Z87.891)
occupational exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z57.31)
tobacco dependence (F17.-)
tobacco use (Z72.0)

Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from Chapter 10

The conditions below are not part of J38, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, J38 and the excluded code may both be reported.

certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P04-P96)
certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A)
congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)
endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E88)
injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)
neoplasms (C00-D49)
smoke inhalation (T59.81-)
symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R94)

What codes fall under J38? (8)

How long has J38 existed?

J38 has been in ICD-10-CM since at least FY2016, the earliest fiscal year on record here.

Derived from the official order files for FY2016–FY2026. FY2017 and FY2020 publish no order file, so those years are not covered.

Which codes are confused with J38?

ICD-10-CM declares these codes mutually exclusive with J38 — exactly one of each pair can be correct for a given encounter.