MS-DRG v44.0 · MDC 07: Diseases and Disorders of the Hepatobiliary System and Pancreas
438 — Disorders of Pancreas Except Malignancy with MCC
- Relative weight
- 1.5765
- Geometric mean LOS
- 4.5 days
- Arithmetic mean LOS
- 6.1 days
- Type
- Medical
About MS-DRG 438
MS-DRG 438, Disorders of Pancreas Except Malignancy with MCC, is a medical DRG in MDC 07 (Diseases and Disorders of the Hepatobiliary System and Pancreas) under MS-DRG version 44.0, which applies to inpatient discharges from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
Its FY2027 relative weight is 1.5765, so Medicare's base payment for this DRG is about 1.58 times the average inpatient case, before hospital-specific adjustments. The geometric mean length of stay is 4.5 days and the arithmetic mean is 6.1 days.
It belongs to a 3-level severity family: DRG 438 (with MCC, weight 1.5765), DRG 439 (with CC, weight 0.8402) and DRG 440 (without CC/MCC, weight 0.5965). The highest-severity level carries 2.6 times the weight of the lowest, which is why documenting CC and MCC conditions matters.
66 ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes are part of this DRG's grouping logic; they are listed below.
ICD-10-CM codes that group to DRG 438 (66)
Chapter 1: Certain infectious and parasitic diseases
Chapter 2: Neoplasms
Chapter 11: Diseases of the digestive system
- K85.00Idiopathic acute pancreatitis without necrosis or infection
- K85.01Idiopathic acute pancreatitis with uninfected necrosis
- K85.02Idiopathic acute pancreatitis with infected necrosis
- K85.10Biliary acute pancreatitis without necrosis or infection
- K85.11Biliary acute pancreatitis with uninfected necrosis
- K85.12Biliary acute pancreatitis with infected necrosis
- K85.20Alcohol induced acute pancreatitis without necrosis or infection
- K85.21Alcohol induced acute pancreatitis with uninfected necrosis
- K85.22Alcohol induced acute pancreatitis with infected necrosis
- K85.30Drug induced acute pancreatitis without necrosis or infection
- K85.31Drug induced acute pancreatitis with uninfected necrosis
- K85.32Drug induced acute pancreatitis with infected necrosis
- K85.80Other acute pancreatitis without necrosis or infection
- K85.81Other acute pancreatitis with uninfected necrosis
- K85.82Other acute pancreatitis with infected necrosis
- K85.90Acute pancreatitis without necrosis or infection, unspecified
- K85.91Acute pancreatitis with uninfected necrosis, unspecified
- K85.92Acute pancreatitis with infected necrosis, unspecified
- K86.0Alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis
- K86.1Other chronic pancreatitis
- K86.2Cyst of pancreas
- K86.3Pseudocyst of pancreas
- K86.81Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency
- K86.89Other specified diseases of pancreas
- K86.9Disease of pancreas, unspecified
Chapter 17: Congenital malformations, deformations, chromosomal abnormalities, and genetic disorders
Chapter 19: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
- S36.200AUnspecified injury of head of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.201AUnspecified injury of body of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.202AUnspecified injury of tail of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.209AUnspecified injury of unspecified part of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.220AContusion of head of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.221AContusion of body of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.222AContusion of tail of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.229AContusion of unspecified part of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.230ALaceration of head of pancreas, unspecified degree, initial encounter
- S36.231ALaceration of body of pancreas, unspecified degree, initial encounter
- S36.232ALaceration of tail of pancreas, unspecified degree, initial encounter
- S36.239ALaceration of unspecified part of pancreas, unspecified degree, initial encounter
- S36.240AMinor laceration of head of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.241AMinor laceration of body of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.242AMinor laceration of tail of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.249AMinor laceration of unspecified part of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.250AModerate laceration of head of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.251AModerate laceration of body of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.252AModerate laceration of tail of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.259AModerate laceration of unspecified part of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.260AMajor laceration of head of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.261AMajor laceration of body of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.262AMajor laceration of tail of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.269AMajor laceration of unspecified part of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.290AOther injury of head of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.291AOther injury of body of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.292AOther injury of tail of pancreas, initial encounter
- S36.299AOther injury of unspecified part of pancreas, initial encounter
- T86.890Other transplanted tissue rejection
- T86.891Other transplanted tissue failure
- T86.892Other transplanted tissue infection
- T86.898Other complications of other transplanted tissue
- T86.899Unspecified complication of other transplanted tissue
Chapter 21: Factors influencing health status and contact with health services
Common questions about DRG 438
What is the relative weight of DRG 438?
- 1.5765 for FY2027 (MS-DRG v44.0), from the IPPS final rule Table 5.
What is the average length of stay for DRG 438?
- The geometric mean length of stay is 4.5 days; the arithmetic mean is 6.1 days.
Is DRG 438 medical or surgical?
- DRG 438 is a medical DRG.