J42
Unspecified chronic bronchitis
Billable FY2026 2025-10-01 → 2026-09-30
Exclusions 17 never code together
J42code
Excludes1
- bronchiolitis obliterans and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (J44.81)J44.81J44.81J44.81
- chronic asthmatic bronchitis (J44.-)J44.-J44.-J44.-
- chronic bronchitis with airways obstruction (J44.-)J44.-J44.-J44.-
- chronic emphysematous bronchitis (J44.-)J44.-J44.-J44.-
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease NOS (J44.9)J44.9J44.9J44.9
- simple and mucopurulent chronic bronchitis (J41.-)J41.-J41.-J41.-
J40-J4Ablock
J00-J99chapter
Excludes2
- certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P04-P96)P04-P96
- certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)A00-B99
- complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A)O00-O9A
- congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)Q00-Q99
- endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E88)E00-E88
- injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)S00-T88
- neoplasms (C00-D49)C00-D49
- smoke inhalation (T59.81-)T59.81-
- symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R94)R00-R94
Excludes1 — never code together. The excluded condition and this one are mutually exclusive.
Excludes2 — not included here, but the patient may have both. Code both when documented.
Instructional notes 18
J42code
Inclusion terms
- Chronic bronchitis NOS
- Chronic tracheitis
- Chronic tracheobronchitis
Use additional code
- code to identify:
- exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z77.22)Z77.22Z77.22Z77.22
- exposure to tobacco smoke in the perinatal period (P96.81)P96.81P96.81P96.81
- history of tobacco dependence (Z87.891)Z87.891Z87.891Z87.891
- occupational exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z57.31)Z57.31Z57.31Z57.31
- tobacco dependence (F17.-)F17.-F17.-F17.-
- tobacco use (Z72.0)Z72.0Z72.0Z72.0
J00-J99chapter
Notes
- When a respiratory condition is described as occurring in more than one site and is not specifically indexed, it should be classified to the lower anatomic site (e.g. tracheobronchitis to bronchitis in J40).J40
Use additional code
- code, where applicable, to identify:
- exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z77.22)Z77.22
- exposure to tobacco smoke in the perinatal period (P96.81)P96.81
- history of tobacco dependence (Z87.891)Z87.891
- occupational exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z57.31)Z57.31
- tobacco dependence (F17.-)F17.-
- tobacco use (Z72.0)Z72.0
Index entries leading here 6
- Tracheitis (catarrhal) (infantile) (membranous) (plastic) (septal) (suppurative) (viral) J04.10
- Bronchitis (diffuse) (fibrinous) (hypostatic) (infective) (membranous) J40
- Bronchorrhea J98.09
- chronic (infective) (purulent) J42
- Tracheopharyngitis (acute) J06.9
- chronic J42
- Infection, infected, infective (opportunistic) B99.9
- trachea, chronic J42
- Pharyngotracheitis, chronic J42
Medications 1
MED-RT files conditions by MeSH, which carves the world differently from ICD-10. These are name matches on this code's description, offered as candidates — not as an assertion that they are this code.
Additional references
AHA Coding Clinic® Licence required
Official coding advice for this code. Published by the American Hospital Association. Not included in this installation.