L58.1: Chronic radiodermatitis

Areas of your skin are damaged after being exposed to harmful radiation.

Harmful radiation can include x-rays or radioactive radiation. X-rays are used in medicine, for example, to produce images of the bones in the body. However, you don’t need a lot of x-rays to do this. A lot of x-rays or radioactive radiation is used in medicine to treat malignant diseases, for example. Radioactive radiation is also found in nature and is also generated artificially in nuclear power plants.

This kind of harmful radiation damages the cells inside the skin.

Skin damage caused by harmful radiation can last for months or years. The damage may also only be visible a long time after exposure from the radiation.

The affected areas of the skin may be permanently red. The skin may be thinner than usual in the affected areas. Muscles or fat under the skin can also break down in these areas. The skin can also be dry there and also lighter or darker than usual. The blood vessels under the affected areas of the skin can be dilated. Then you can see the blood vessels as red points or lines through the skin. Deep wounds in the skin may also develop. Hair may have fallen out and no longer grow back.

Additional indicator

On medical documents, the ICD code is often appended by letters that indicate the diagnostic certainty or the affected side of the body.

  • G: Confirmed diagnosis
  • V: Tentative diagnosis
  • Z: Condition after
  • A: Excluded diagnosis
  • L: Left
  • R: Right
  • B: Both sides

Further information

Note

This information is not intended for self-diagnosis and does not replace professional medical advice from a doctor. If you find an ICD code on a personal medical document, please also note the additional indicator used for diagnostic confidence.
Your doctor will assist you with any health-related questions and explain the ICD diagnosis code to you in a direct consultation if necessary.

Source

Provided by the non-profit organization “Was hab’ ich?” gemeinnützige GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).