2025 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code I26 - Free 2025 ICD-10-CM/PCS Medical Coding

Pulmonary embolism

I26 should not be used for reimbursement purposes as there are multiple codes below it that contain a greater level of detail.
The 2025 edition of ICD-10-CM I26 became effective on October 1, 2024.
This is the American ICD-10-CM version of I26 – other international versions of ICD-10 I26 may differ.

Type 1 Excludes

Type 2 Excludes

chronic pulmonary embolism (I27.82)
personal history of pulmonary embolism (Z86.711)
pulmonary embolism complicating abortion, ectopic or molar pregnancy (O00-O07, O08.2)
pulmonary embolism complicating pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O88.-)
pulmonary embolism due to trauma (T79.0, T79.1)
pulmonary embolism due to complications of surgical and medical care (T80.0, T81.7-, T82.8-)
septic (non-pulmonary) arterial embolism (I76)

Includes

The following code(s) above I26 contain annotation back-references

that may be applicable to I26:

Clinical Information

A pulmonary embolism is a sudden blockage in a lung artery. The cause is usually a blood clot in the leg called a deep vein thrombosis that breaks loose and travels through the bloodstream to the lung. Pulmonary embolism is a serious condition that can cause
- permanent damage to the affected lung
- low oxygen levels in your blood
- damage to other organs in your body from not getting enough oxygen
if a clot is large, or if there are many clots, pulmonary embolism can cause death. Half the people who have pulmonary embolism have no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, they can include shortness of breath, chest pain or coughing up blood. Symptoms of a blood clot include warmth, swelling, pain, tenderness and redness of the leg. The goal of treatment is to break up clots and help keep other clots from forming.
Blocking of the pulmonary artery or one of its branches by an embolus.
The closure of the pulmonary artery or one of its branches by an embolus, sometimes associated with infarction of the lung.
The obstruction of the pulmonary artery or one of its branches by an embolus, sometimes associated with infarction of the lung.

Code History

2016 (effective 10/1/2015): New code (first year of non-draft ICD-10-CM)
2017 (effective 10/1/2016): No change
2018 (effective 10/1/2017): No change
2019 (effective 10/1/2018): No change
2020 (effective 10/1/2019): No change
2021 (effective 10/1/2020): No change
2022 (effective 10/1/2021): No change
2023 (effective 10/1/2022): No change
2024 (effective 10/1/2023): No change
2025 (effective 10/1/2024): No change

Code annotations containing back-references to I26: