M79.A — Nontraumatic compartment syndrome

Not billable

Is M79.A billable?

No — M79.A is a non-billable header code. M79.A 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 8 billable codes beneath M79.A.

Billable codes under this header

M79.A at a glance

Code	M79.A
Description	Nontraumatic compartment syndrome
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 M79.A on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.

compartment syndrome NOS (T79.A-)
fibromyalgia (M79.7)
nontraumatic ischemic infarction of muscle (M62.2-)
traumatic compartment syndrome (T79.A-)

Code first

The underlying condition below must be sequenced before M79.A. M79.A describes a manifestation and cannot be the principal or first-listed diagnosis.

, if applicable, associated postprocedural complication

Excludes1 — never code together — inherited from M79

The conditions below can never be reported together with M79.A on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.

psychogenic rheumatism (F45.8)
soft tissue pain, psychogenic (F45.41)

Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from Chapter 13

The conditions below are not part of M79.A, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, M79.A and the excluded code may both be reported.

arthropathic psoriasis (L40.5-)
certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P04-P96)
certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
compartment syndrome (traumatic) (T79.A-)
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)
symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R94)

What codes fall under M79.A? (4)

How long has M79.A existed?

M79.A 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 M79.A?

ICD-10-CM declares these codes mutually exclusive with M79.A — exactly one of each pair can be correct for a given encounter.

vs M79.7Fibromyalgia