Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: The physician inserted a lumbar drain and wants to leave it in place for several days. He listed 62272 as the procedure code. What should we report for daily inpatient visits from the anesthesiologist? Are there any guidelines for this type of situation?

New Hampshire Subscriber

Answer: The normal anesthesia crosswalk code for 62272 (Spinal puncture, therapeutic, for drainage of cerebrospinal fluid [by needle or catheter]) is 00635 (Anesthesia for procedures in lumbar region; diagnostic or therapeutic lumbar puncture). However, this code represents when anesthesia is provided during the lumbar procedure itself, so isn't applicable in this situation. The daily management code 01996 (Daily hospital management of epidural or subarachnoid continuous drug administration) also doesn't apply because it refers to management of medication.

Code 62272 doesn't have any associated global days. If the physician meets the documentation requirements, then you can bill the appropriate E/M code for an established patient along with the corresponding diagnosis or chief complaint.