Chronic Enteritis — VA Disability Rating (DC 7325)
Diagnostic Code 7325 · 38 CFR §4.114
What Is It?
Chronic enteritis is persistent or recurring inflammation of the small intestine. It is a broad clinical category covering post-infectious enteritis after a deployment-acquired infection that never fully cleared, radiation enteritis, ischemic enteritis after abdominal trauma or surgery, eosinophilic enteritis, and drug-induced enteritis. The picture includes chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, malabsorption, and nutritional deficiency. DC 7325 carries no percentages of its own: its rating cell in 38 CFR §4.114 is empty, and the entry reads, "Rate as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (DC 7319) or Crohn's disease or undifferentiated form of inflammatory bowel disease (DC 7326), depending on the predominant disability." Which of the two applies changes the ceiling substantially — DC 7319 tops out at 30 percent while DC 7326 reaches 100 — so the clinical characterization of the predominant disability is the single most consequential thing in the claim.
Rating Criteria
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|---|
| See pathways | DC 7325 assigns no percentages of its own — its rating cell in §4.114 is empty. The entry directs: rate as irritable bowel syndrome (DC 7319) or Crohn's disease or undifferentiated form of inflammatory bowel disease (DC 7326), depending on the predominant disability. DC 7319 runs 30 / 20 / 10 with no 0 row, keyed to how often abdominal pain is related to defecation over the previous three months plus two or more of six findings. DC 7326 runs 100 / 60 / 30 / 10, keyed to treatment intensity, hospitalization, and defined symptom counts. |
Evidence Needed
Capsule endoscopy, push enteroscopy, or small-bowel imaging documents the inflammation and any chronic mucosal change. Biopsy characterizes the inflammatory pattern and separates the specific diagnoses. Because the two destination codes are keyed to very different things, the evidence needs to match whichever is predominant: DC 7319 turns on how often abdominal pain is related to defecation over the previous three months and on two or more of six findings — change in stool frequency, change in stool form, altered stool passage, mucorrhea, abdominal bloating, subjective distension — so a three-month symptom diary is the document that decides it. DC 7326 turns on treatment intensity (oral and topical agents versus immunosuppressants or biologics), hospitalization frequency, daily diarrhea and rectal bleeding counts, and signs of toxicity such as fever, tachycardia, or anemia, so the medication record, hospitalization history, and labs are what carry it.
C&P Exam Tips
Bring imaging, endoscopy and biopsy reports, current weight and lab trends, and the full medication history. The pivotal question at the examination is which disability picture predominates, because that decides whether the ceiling is 30 percent or 100 — so make sure the record supports the characterization the clinical picture actually justifies rather than leaving it to a default. Bring a three-month symptom diary if the picture is functional, and the biologic or immunosuppressant record plus hospitalization dates if it is inflammatory. If the enteritis is post-infectious, the nexus runs through the original infection; if it is radiation-induced or post-surgical, frame it as secondary to the underlying service-connected condition.
How to File
File VA Form 21-526EZ listing chronic enteritis under DC 7325, and name which destination code fits the predominant disability — DC 7319 or DC 7326 — because DC 7325 carries no percentage of its own and the two ceilings are far apart. Attach imaging, endoscopy and biopsy results, weight trend, lab work, and the full medication history. Where the inflammation is post-infectious from a deployment-acquired infection, frame the claim through the original infection and attach the deployment records.
Common Mistakes
Expecting DC 7325 to carry criteria of its own — the entry is one sentence routing the claim to DC 7319 or DC 7326 on the predominant disability. Letting the routing default to DC 7319 without argument when the clinical picture is inflammatory, which caps the evaluation at 30 percent instead of 100. Assuming ulcerative colitis is the comparison point: DC 7323 no longer carries figures either and itself directs rating as DC 7326. Missing the nutritional deficiency claims when malabsorption has produced documented vitamin levels below the reference range.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage does DC 7325 pay?
None on its own. Its rating cell in 38 CFR §4.114 is empty and the entry directs rating as irritable bowel syndrome (DC 7319) or Crohn's disease or undifferentiated form of inflammatory bowel disease (DC 7326), depending on the predominant disability. DC 7319 is 30 / 20 / 10 and has no 0 row. DC 7326 is 100 / 60 / 30 / 10. Which one the claim is routed to is the whole ballgame.
What is the difference between DC 7325 and Crohn disease?
Crohn's disease has its own code, DC 7326, which the 2024 digestive rewrite retitled "Crohn's disease or undifferentiated form of inflammatory bowel disease" and which ulcerative colitis at DC 7323 is now also routed into. DC 7325 covers chronic small-bowel inflammation that does not meet diagnostic criteria for a specific inflammatory bowel disease, and it borrows its percentages from DC 7319 or DC 7326 depending on which picture predominates. Endoscopic biopsy with histology is what separates them, and the distinction changes the ceiling.
Can deployment-era infections cause chronic enteritis years later?
Post-infectious enteritis following bacterial, parasitic, or viral gastrointestinal infection can persist as chronic inflammation long after the original organism has been cleared, through persistent low-grade immune activation in the gut. A nexus opinion from a gastroenterologist connecting the documented in-service infection to the current chronic enteritis can carry the claim, and the deployment health records are the anchor.