ICD-10-CM Code For Acute Kidney Failure: Group Overview

The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) code group N17 includes acute kidney failure diagnoses, covering sudden decreases in renal function due to prerenal, intrinsic, postrenal, and unspecified causes as well as specific acute tubular necrosis presentations. These ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes are used to document acute kidney injury scenarios, capturing disease severity, organ involvement, and clinical complexity relevant to acute renal dysfunction. Accurate coding within the ICD-10-CM N17 group supports proper claim adjudication / complete clinical documentation / appropriate reimbursement.

Customize your policy alerts

Sign up for ICD-10-CM Code For Acute Kidney Failure: Group Overview policy alerts

Get alerted when relevant policies change without checking for updates manually.

Monitor payer policy activity

Receive email alerts as soon as relevant payer policies are published or updated.

ICD-10-CM N17: Acute Kidney Failure Overview

The diagnoses in this group represent acute loss of kidney function that primarily affects the renal system and fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base homeostasis. These codes capture etiologies, severity, and context of acute kidney injury including unspecified, prerenal, intrinsic, and postrenal causes. Accurate coding matters for reimbursement because it documents clinical severity and resource use supporting claim adjudication.

When to Use

Use a code from this group when a patient has documented acute deterioration in kidney function that requires clinical assessment, monitoring, or intervention. Select the most specific code that reflects the documented cause, clinical context, and any associated complications.

ICD-10-CM Codes

5 rows

ICD-10-CM Code	Description
N17.0	Acute kidney failure with tubular necrosis
N17.1	Acute kidney failure with acute cortical necrosis
N17.2	Acute kidney failure with medullary necrosis
N17.8	Other acute kidney failure
N17.9	Acute kidney failure, unspecified

DRG Codes

8 rows

DRG Code	Description
673	Other Kidney and Urinary Tract Procedures with MCC
674	Other Kidney and Urinary Tract Procedures with CC
675	Other Kidney and Urinary Tract Procedures without CC/MCC
682	Renal Failure with MCC
683	Renal Failure with CC
684	Renal Failure without CC/MCC
791	Prematurity with Major Problems
793	Full Term Neonate with Major Problems

Typical Clinical Scenarios

An older adult with a history of congestive heart failure and recent high-dose diuretic use presents to the emergency department with sudden oliguria, rising serum creatinine over 48 hours, and evidence of volume depletion; lab tests show a rapid decline in glomerular filtration consistent with acute tubular dysfunction. A code from this group is assigned because kidney function deterioration is acute and temporally related to a hemodynamic/medication insult. Typical codes: N17.0, N17.9
A middle-aged patient is admitted to the hospital with severe sepsis from a urinary tract infection and becomes hypotensive despite fluids; within 24–72 hours urine output drops and creatinine doubles from baseline, requiring temporary renal replacement therapy. An acute kidney failure code is used because the renal impairment is new, severe, and directly related to the infectious, hemodynamic insult. Typical codes: N17.2, N17.9
A postoperative patient in the intensive care unit following major cardiac surgery develops abrupt anuria and is found to have acute kidney injury on laboratory monitoring; imaging excludes obstruction and clinicians document acute renal failure as a complication of the perioperative period. A code from this group is assigned to capture the acute, postprocedural renal failure complication. Typical codes: N17.1, N17.9

Related Codes

N18-CHRONIC-KIDNEY-DISEASE

ICD-10-CM Code For Chronic Kidney Disease (Ckd): Group Overview

N19-UNSPECIFIED-KIDNEY-FAILURE

ICD-10-CM Code For Unspecified Kidney Failure: Group Overview

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.

Published by

Trek Health powers OpenPayer with a leading commercial payer intelligence platform, seamlessly converting fragmented payer data into actionable insights for provider organizations.

Trek Health ingests and normalizes Transparency in Coverage data and payer policy updates to give provider organizations a clear view of how commercial reimbursement behaves across markets, payers, and services. Our platform transforms raw payer disclosures into structured intelligence that supports contract evaluation, payer negotiations, and service line strategy. By combining market benchmarks with ongoing policy visibility, Trek helps teams identify variability, risk, and opportunity in commercial reimbursement. The result is faster insight, stronger negotiating positions, and more informed financial decisions.

Explore openpayer tools

View all tools

When to Use

ICD-10-CM Codes

5 rows

ICD-10-CM Code	Description
N17.0	Acute kidney failure with tubular necrosis
N17.1	Acute kidney failure with acute cortical necrosis
N17.2	Acute kidney failure with medullary necrosis
N17.8	Other acute kidney failure
N17.9	Acute kidney failure, unspecified

DRG Codes

8 rows

DRG Code	Description
673	Other Kidney and Urinary Tract Procedures with MCC
674	Other Kidney and Urinary Tract Procedures with CC
675	Other Kidney and Urinary Tract Procedures without CC/MCC
682	Renal Failure with MCC
683	Renal Failure with CC
684	Renal Failure without CC/MCC
791	Prematurity with Major Problems
793	Full Term Neonate with Major Problems

Typical Clinical Scenarios

An older adult with a history of congestive heart failure and recent high-dose diuretic use presents to the emergency department with sudden oliguria, rising serum creatinine over 48 hours, and evidence of volume depletion; lab tests show a rapid decline in glomerular filtration consistent with acute tubular dysfunction. A code from this group is assigned because kidney function deterioration is acute and temporally related to a hemodynamic/medication insult. Typical codes: N17.0, N17.9
A middle-aged patient is admitted to the hospital with severe sepsis from a urinary tract infection and becomes hypotensive despite fluids; within 24–72 hours urine output drops and creatinine doubles from baseline, requiring temporary renal replacement therapy. An acute kidney failure code is used because the renal impairment is new, severe, and directly related to the infectious, hemodynamic insult. Typical codes: N17.2, N17.9
A postoperative patient in the intensive care unit following major cardiac surgery develops abrupt anuria and is found to have acute kidney injury on laboratory monitoring; imaging excludes obstruction and clinicians document acute renal failure as a complication of the perioperative period. A code from this group is assigned to capture the acute, postprocedural renal failure complication. Typical codes: N17.1, N17.9

Related Codes

N18-CHRONIC-KIDNEY-DISEASE

ICD-10-CM Code For Chronic Kidney Disease (Ckd): Group Overview

N19-UNSPECIFIED-KIDNEY-FAILURE

ICD-10-CM Code For Unspecified Kidney Failure: Group Overview

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.

Published by

Trek Health powers OpenPayer with a leading commercial payer intelligence platform, seamlessly converting fragmented payer data into actionable insights for provider organizations.

ICD-10-CM Code For Acute Kidney Failure: Group Overview

Sign up for ICD-10-CM Code For Acute Kidney Failure: Group Overview policy alerts

ICD-10-CM N17: Acute Kidney Failure Overview

ICD-10-CM Code For Acute Kidney Failure: Group Overview

Sign up for ICD-10-CM Code For Acute Kidney Failure: Group Overview policy alerts

ICD-10-CM N17: Acute Kidney Failure Overview

When to Use

ICD-10-CM Codes

DRG Codes

Typical Clinical Scenarios

Related Codes

Which ICD-10-CM codes are included in the N17 group?

How does accurate coding within N17 affect reimbursement?

What clinical scenarios are represented by N17 codes?

Which DRGs relate to acute kidney failure coding in the N17 group?

When should the unspecified code `N17.9` be used?

References

When to Use

ICD-10-CM Codes

DRG Codes

Typical Clinical Scenarios

Related Codes

Which ICD-10-CM codes are included in the N17 group?

How does accurate coding within N17 affect reimbursement?

What clinical scenarios are represented by N17 codes?

Which DRGs relate to acute kidney failure coding in the N17 group?

When should the unspecified code `N17.9` be used?

References