tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2003 Issue 3

Repairs with Lesion Excision Arent an Open-and-Shut Case

Physicians and coders should remember that in most cases, lesion excision will include closure, depending on the level of repair required. Excision codes 11400-11446 (benign) and 11600-11646 (malignant) describe full-thickness (that is, through-the-dermis) lesion removal with margins and include simple (nonlayered) closures (CPT 12001-12018). As noted in CPT, however, "The closure of defects created by incision, excision or trauma may require intermediate or complex closure. Repair by intermediate or complex closure should be reported separately."But even this is not a hard-and-fast rule at least for Medicare and other payers who follow the national Correct Coding Initiative (CCI). For...

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