H65.04 Acute serous otitis media, recurrent, right ear

ICD-10-CM Code H65.04: Acute serous otitis media, recurrent, right ear

ICD-10-CM code H65.04 identifies acute serous otitis media that is recurrent and localized to the right ear. Public sources map this specific designation to the 2025 ICD-10-CM system and distinguish it from non-recurrent or unspecified ear variations. Clinical literature establishes serous otitis media as an inflammatory middle ear process that can lead to hearing loss in young children. 4 5 2

Plain-language overview

Serous otitis media is an inflammatory process occurring in the middle ear, and medical literature notes it as a frequent condition in early childhood that constitutes a significant cause of hearing loss in young age. 2

What this code represents

The ICD-10-CM code H65.04 represents the specific diagnosis of acute serous otitis media, recurrent, right ear within the 2025 coding system. 4

Coding details

Source listings place H65.04 among a sequence of acute serous otitis media codes that differentiate laterality and recurrence, such as H65.01 for the right ear and H65.06 for recurrent bilateral presentations. 5

A phecode mapping resource identifies distinct codes for recurrent acute serous otitis media separated by laterality, listing H65.04 for the right ear alongside separate codes for left, bilateral, and unspecified ears. 3

Documentation considerations

Clinical research on acute nonsuppurative otitis media evaluates severity and focuses on assessing eustachian tube function, indicating that documentation of middle ear effusion and tympanic membrane status is relevant to this condition category. 1

Clinical context

Clinical literature describes different stages of serous otitis, varying from tubotympanic catarrh and acute serous otitis to chronic serous otitis or progression to fibro-adhesive otitis. 2

What the sources add

While the clinical literature describes serous otitis media as an inflammatory middle ear process, the coding sources specifically map the H65.04 code to the recurrent right ear presentation of acute serous otitis media. 2 4

The coding and phecode sources provide operational specificity by separating acute serous otitis media into distinct codes for right, left, bilateral, and unspecified ears, whereas the clinical sources discuss the condition's stages and complications without code-level separation. 5 3 2

Sources

1. Evaluation of Clinical Graded Treatment of Acute Nonsuppurative Otitis Media in Children with Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infection — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; accessed 2026-07-25.
2. Serous otitis media: Clinical and therapeutic considerations, including dexamethasone (C22H29FO5) intratympanic injection — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; accessed 2026-07-25.
3. Phecode 381 · Cancer PRSweb — csg.sph.umich.edu; accessed 2026-07-25.
4. EVS Explore — evsexplore.semantics.cancer.gov; accessed 2026-07-25.
5. ICD-10 Codes Used to Define Otitis Media — cdn-links.lww.com; accessed 2026-07-25.