# Detachment of deltoid muscle



## seslinger (Jul 26, 2010)

I have a procedure where the "anterior one-half of the deltoid was detached from the acromion. The deltoid was then reattached both anteriorly & laterally through multiple transosseous tunnels with sutures. Total 7 tunnels were made with 7 separate sutures giving a good tight snug reattachment of the deltoid."

I am thinking maybe a rotator cuff repair or tenotomy code.  Any help would be appreciated.  thanks.


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## rlohearn (Jul 26, 2010)

Hi,

I just posted what *might* be a similar question (see thread above, "open shoulder exploration & deltoid "reefing").  

We went with 24341 (repair, tendon or muscle) for our deltoid "reefing", which sounds a lot like your reattachment (provided it was open, that is). 

I hope this helps a bit.


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## seslinger (Jul 26, 2010)

I was looking more into the shoulder codes because it was being attached to the acromion???


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## rlohearn (Jul 27, 2010)

I see your concern, but my thinking is:  1) there's no code in the shoulder repair category that works for deltoid reattachment, and 2) the only caveat to 24341 is that it cannot include the rotator cuff; there's no limitation to the code as far as the reattachment being at the shoulder end of the business.

I may be interpreting too much into this one, but I don't really see any other workable alternatives.  The CPT Assistant reference for 24341 wasn't very useful, but the description of it in the 2010 Coders Desk Reference was good, and it too didn't refer to any limitations with respect to the place of reattachment.  I'd be interested in finding out what other folks are doing in this situation, too, though.

Good luck!


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