T31CurrentCategory · further specificity required

Burns classified according to extent of body surface involved

Chapters 19 · Inherited instructions

Use additional code

code to identify any retained foreign body, if applicable (Z18.-)

Excludes 2 · 5

Chapters 19 · Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)

Excludes 2

birth trauma (P10-P15)
obstetric trauma (O70-O71)

T20-T32 · Burns and corrosions (T20-T32)

Excludes 2

erythema [dermatitis] ab igne (L59.0)
radiation-related disorders of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (L55-L59)
sunburn (L55.-)

More specific codes

T31.0Burns involving less than 10% of body surface T31.1Burns involving 10-19% of body surface T31.2Burns involving 20-29% of body surface T31.3Burns involving 30-39% of body surface T31.4Burns involving 40-49% of body surface T31.5Burns involving 50-59% of body surface T31.6Burns involving 60-69% of body surface T31.7Burns involving 70-79% of body surface T31.8Burns involving 80-89% of body surface T31.9Burns involving 90% or more of body surface

Claims & coverage

When ICD-10-CM is required

For US diagnosis claims covered by HIPAA, ICD-10-CM is required from October 1, 2015.

Use the service date for outpatient/professional claims and the discharge date for hospital inpatient claims. Earlier encounters use ICD-9-CM; each individual code must also be valid for the applicable date.

Official coding guidelines → · CMS ↗

First observed · 2015-10-01

Code history

Latest recorded change · FY2025 · 04-01

ChangedUnchanged

FY2025 · 04-01

Effective from 2025-04-01

Inherited rules changed

Burns classified according to extent of body surface involved

Category — select a more specific code

CDC/NCHS · FY2025 · 04-01

All editions (19)

All editions	Effective from	Code history
FY2016	2015-10-01	First observed
FY2017	2016-10-01	No tabular change
FY2018	2017-10-01	No tabular change
FY2019	2018-10-01	No tabular change
FY2020	2019-10-01	No tabular change
FY2020 · April	2020-04-01	No tabular change
FY2021	2020-10-01	No tabular change
FY2021 · 01-01	2021-01-01	No tabular change
FY2022	2021-10-01	No tabular change
FY2022 · 04-01	2022-04-01	No tabular change
FY2023	2022-10-01	No tabular change
FY2023 · 04-01	2023-04-01	No tabular change
FY2024	2023-10-01	No tabular change
FY2024 · 04-01	2024-04-01	No tabular change
FY2025	2024-10-01	No tabular change
FY2025 · 04-01	2025-04-01	Inherited rules changed
FY2026	2025-10-01	No tabular change
FY2026 · April	2026-04-01	No tabular change
FY2027	2026-10-01	No tabular change

Code-level instructions

Note

This category is to be used as the primary code only when the site of the burn is unspecified. It should be used as a supplementary code with categories T20-T25 when the site is specified.

Inherited instructions

Chapters 19 · Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)

Excludes 2

birth trauma (P10-P15)
obstetric trauma (O70-O71)

Use additional code

code to identify any retained foreign body, if applicable (Z18.-)

Note

Use secondary code(s) from Chapter 20, External causes of morbidity, to indicate cause of injury. Codes within the T section that include the external cause do not require an additional external cause code
The chapter uses the S-section for coding different types of injuries related to single body regions and the T-section to cover injuries to unspecified body regions as well as poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes.

T20-T32 · Burns and corrosions (T20-T32)

Includes

burns (thermal) from electrical heating appliances
burns (thermal) from electricity
burns (thermal) from flame
burns (thermal) from friction
burns (thermal) from hot air and hot gases
burns (thermal) from hot objects
burns (thermal) from lightning
burns (thermal) from radiation
chemical burn [corrosion] (external) (internal)
scalds

Excludes 2

erythema [dermatitis] ab igne (L59.0)
radiation-related disorders of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (L55-L59)
sunburn (L55.-)

More specific codes

Related codes

Official titles and instructions are preserved in their source language. Official sources ↗