Anesthesia Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Location Guides Myelomeningocele Repair Choice

Question: Our anesthesiologist provided care during a myelomeningocele repair. I have no information telling what part of the spine (cervical, thoracic, or lumbar/sacral) was affected. What anesthesia code should I choose?

Massachusetts Subscriber

Answer: You need to confirm the affected spinal area before choosing the best code, so ask the anesthesiologist for more details, or request a copy of the operative report. Depending on the repair's anatomic site, you'll choose a surgical code of either 63704 (Repair of myelomeningocele; less than 5 cm diameter) or 63706 (...larger than 5 cm diameter). Since the area of the spine is not defined by CPT®, you will need to choose an anesthesia code from 00600 (Anesthesia for procedures on cervical spine and cord; not otherwise specified), 00620 (Anesthesia for procedures on thoracic spine and cord; nototherwise specified), or 00630 (Anesthesia for procedures in lumbar region; not otherwise specified).

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