tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2012 Issue 10

Reader Question: Preserving Structures Governs Neck Code Choice

Question: Our surgeon performed an open selective neck dissection, removing cervical lymph nodes while preserving the internal jugular vein, spinal accessory nerve, and sternocleidomastoid muscle. Should we report this as 38510, 38724, or some other code?New Jersey SubscriberAnswer: The best choice for the procedure you describe is 38724 (Cervical lymphadenectomy [modified radical neck dissection]). Because the physician modifies the surgical dissection plane to preserve some or all of those critical structures mentioned in the report, the work clearly warrants a dissection code rather than a biopsy code.Don't code biopsy: A selective neck dissection represents a lymphadenectomy of...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci General Surgery Coding Alert.


Leverage vital, to-the-point monthly guidance to boost your reporting accuracy and your coding know-how. We make it convenient for your team to stay informed, compliant, and profitable with a subscription to TCI’s General Surgery Coding Alert.

  • Current newsletters added each month
  • Fully searchable archives - over 2100 articles
  • ALL years/issues back to 1999 organized by year and issue
  • Codes mentioned in articles are linked to Code Information pages
  • Code Information pages link back to related articles
Access to this feature is available in the following products:
  • tci General Surgery Coding Alert +Archives

demo
request yours today
 subscribe
start today
 newsletter
free subscription

Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.