One of the most common reasons why people seek medical assistance is the abdominal pain. It could be a sharp crunch or a dull pain that persists but in any case, the doctors employ the abdominal pain ICD-10 code to categorize and record the symptom in a standard manner. This guarantees appropriate medical documentation, health insurance invoicing, and enhanced patient care.
What is ICD-10?
The international coding of medical conditions and symptoms is ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10 th Revision). Each diagnosis/ complaint, such as abdominal pain or chronic diseases, corresponds to a certain ICD-10 code. In the case of abdominal pain, such codes are R10.
Abdominal Pain ICD-10 Code List
Here are the most common codes used for abdominal pain in ICD-10:
- R10.0 – Acute abdomen (sudden, severe pain that may require emergency surgery)
- R10.1 – Pain in upper abdomen
- R10.10 – Upper abdominal pain, unspecified
- R10.11 – Right upper quadrant pain (often linked to gallbladder or liver)
- R10.12 – Left upper quadrant pain (possible stomach or spleen involvement)
- R10.13 – Epigastric pain (upper middle, common with ulcers or reflux)
- R10.3 – Pain in lower abdomen
- R10.30 – Lower abdominal pain, unspecified
- R10.31 – Right lower quadrant pain (appendix, ovarian, kidney)
- R10.32 – Left lower quadrant pain (colon, ovarian, kidney)
- R10.33 – Periumbilical pain (around the belly button)
- R10.2 – Pelvic and perineal pain
- R10.4 – Other and unspecified abdominal pain
👉 Pro tip: If you see a code like R10.11 on your medical paperwork, it doesn’t mean a diagnosis yet—it just documents the location of your pain.
Why the Abdominal Pain ICD-10 Code Matters
For doctors: It ensures accurate records and helps decide next steps for diagnosis and treatment.
For insurance companies: Correct coding speeds up claims and reduces disputes.
For patients: It means your symptoms are clearly recorded, and your healthcare providers are speaking the same “language.”
Patient-Friendly Takeaway
The abdominal pain ICD-10 code isn’t scary—it’s just a shorthand system doctors use. When you hear terms like R10.31 or R10.13, they simply describe where in your abdomen the pain is located.
Final Thoughts
A lot of causes of abdominal pain may be related to the abdominal cavity, but the ICD-10 abdominal pain (R10 category) is used to ensure that it is monitored and addressed accordingly. Are you a healthcare professional who needs to be precise with the coding or are you a patient reading your medical chart? These codes can be used to eliminate confusion.