EDUCATIONAL TOOL ONLY. Not legal or medical advice. Not affiliated with the VA.
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Chronic Nausea and Vomiting
✓ VERIFIED AGAINST 38 C.F.R.§ 4.114 (Digestive system) · reviewed 2026-05-17 · ClaimRecon Editorial Team
Chronic Nausea and Vomiting is rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under DC 7303 of 38 CFR § 4.114, DC 7303 (chronic upper-GI surgery complications — canonical for post-surgical chronic nausea/vomiting) or alternatively DC 7319 (functional digestive disorders) for non-surgical etiology; the former DC 7308 dumping-syndrome framework was redirected to DC 7303 by amendment across 5 severity tiers (0% / 10% / 30% / 50% / 80%). Service connection requires (1) a current diagnosis, (2) an in-service event, injury, or exposure, and (3) a medical nexus opinion linking the two under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.
OVERVIEW
Persistent or recurrent nausea with or without vomiting, from various gastrointestinal causes
RATING CRITERIA (5 LEVELS)
0%
Post-operative status, asymptomatic.
10%
With either nausea or vomiting managed by ongoing medical treatment.
30%
With two or more of: vomiting 2+ times per week or despite treatment; post-prandial pain requiring dietary modification; 3-5 watery BMs/day.
50%
Daily vomiting despite oral dietary modification/medication; OR 6+ watery BMs/day; OR post-prandial syncope with sweating requiring dumping-syndrome medications.
80%
Continuous TPN or tube feeding for >30 consecutive days in the past 6 months.
KEY EVIDENCE TO GATHER
-Service treatment records showing injury or complaints
-Imaging (X-ray, MRI, CT)
-Range of motion measurements
-Flare-up documentation per Sharp v. Shulkin
-Buddy statements describing limitations
-Prescription history
-Physical therapy records
-Employment impact documentation
C&P EXAM TIPS (6)
1.Do NOT stretch, warm up, or take pain medication before your exam. The VA needs your baseline limitation.
2.Report your WORST day. DeLuca v. Brown requires documentation of functional loss during flare-ups.
3.Tell the examiner about flare-ups: frequency, duration, estimated ROM loss. Sharp v. Shulkin (2017) requires estimates.
4.Request active, passive, weight-bearing, and non-weight-bearing ROM testing per Correia v. McDonald (2016).
5.If you use assistive devices (brace, cane), bring them.
6.Describe daily activity impact: work, sleep, household tasks.
SOURCES & EDITORIAL
Rating criteria text quoted verbatim from 38 C.F.R. § 4.114 (Digestive system). Source verified 2026-05-17 by ClaimRecon Editorial Team during a regulation-text comparison against the Cornell Law CFR mirror; eCFR.gov is the authoritative government source.
EDUCATIONAL TOOL ONLY. NOT LEGAL OR MEDICAL ADVICE.
NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
CLAIM RECON 2026