Anesthesia Coding Alert
Choose Between 00700 and 00800 for Excisional Biopsy of Abdominal Wall
Question: The physician excises an abnormal mass from within the muscle layer beneath the abdominal wall for biopsy. The pathology result was Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. Should I use I use 49203 or 22900? What would be the diagnosis code for this?
Virginia Subscriber
Answer: The appropriate surgical code would be 22900 (Excision, tumor, soft tissue of abdominal wall, subfascial [e.g., intramuscular]; less than 5 cm). You should be reporting the associated anesthesia code, however, instead of the surgical code. In this case, 22900 crosses to either anesthesia code 00700 (Anesthesia for procedures on upper anterior abdominal wall; not otherwise specified) or 00800 (Anesthesia for procedures on lower anterior abdominal wall; not otherwise specified). Choose the anesthesia code based on the incision site: upper or lower abdominal wall.
The diagnosis code would be 239.2 (Neoplasm of unspecified nature of bone soft tissue and skin).
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