Moisture-Associated Skin Damage: Expanding and Updating Practice Based on the Newest ICD-10-CM Codes

Moisture-associated skin damage (MASD) occurs when skin is repeatedly exposed to various sources of bodily secretions or effluents, often leading to irritant contact dermatitis with inflammation, with or without denudation of affected skin. In 2020, the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society took an initiative that led to the addition of multiple International Classification for Diseases codes for irritant contract dermatitis caused by various forms of MASD for use in the United States (ICD-10-CM). In the last issue of the Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing, a clinical practice alert identifying the various new codes was published that summarized each of the new codes and provided highlights of the descriptions of each of the these codes. This is the first in a series of 2 articles providing a more detailed description of the newest irritant contact dermatitis codes linked to MASD. Specifically, this article reviews the clinical manifestations and assessment, pathophysiology, epidemiology, prevention, and management of irritant contact dermatitis due to saliva, respiratory secretions, and fecal or urinary incontinence.