Resistance to multiple antibiotics

This diagnosis code signifies a patient's infection that no longer responds to several different classes of antimicrobial medications. It indicates a significant challenge in treating the infection due to the pathogen's ability to withstand the effects of multiple standard antibiotic therapies.

This code is appropriate when laboratory testing confirms that a bacterial infection exhibits resistance to more than one distinct antibiotic class. It should be used when the patient's treatment plan is complicated by the limited efficacy of broad-spectrum antibiotics, necessitating the use of alternative or last-resort agents.

• Always ensure documentation clearly specifies resistance to multiple antibiotics, not just one.
• This code is typically a secondary diagnosis, accompanying the code for the specific infection being treated.
• Do not use this code for resistance to a single antibiotic; other codes exist for that scenario.