M54.5
ICD-10Non-billable categoryLow back pain
Official ICD-10-CM descriptor (FY2026)
Low back pain
M54.5 is a category heading, not a billable code. CMS does not accept it on a claim; report one of the more specific codes beneath it.
Plain-language explanation
The ICD-10-CM category heading for low back pain. CMS does not flag the category itself as valid for submission; the specific codes beneath it are the ones reported on a claim.
Written by Krasyn as a general orientation to the code. It is not from CMS and is not clinical or coding advice.
Excludes1
Not coded here. An Excludes1 code should never be reported at the same time as the code above it.
- intervertebral disc degeneration, lumbar region with discogenic back pain only (M51.360)
- intervertebral disc degeneration, lumbosacral region with discogenic back pain only (M51.370)
- low back strain (S39.012)
- lumbago due to intervertebral disc displacement (M51.2-)
- lumbago with sciatica (M54.4-)
ICD-10-CM FY2026 defines 3 codes beneath M54.5. See the ICD-10-CM index for what this site publishes.
Related codes in M54
Where this code sits
- Parent code
- M54
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ICD-10-CM FY2026. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) / National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), “2026 ICD-10-CM Code Descriptions in Tabular Order” (icd10cm_order_2026.txt). Download the original file from cms.gov. Public domain (US Government work). Descriptors, billable flags and instructional notes on this page are reproduced from that file without modification. Krasyn adds no clinical guidance.