Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: What are the correct surgical and anesthesia codes for the excision of a tibial tubercle with a diagnosis of painful tibial tubercle of the right knee? Also, whats the best diagnosis code to support the procedure?

California Subscriber

Answer: Use code 27360 (partial excision [craterization, saucerization, or diaphysectomy] bone, femur, proximal tibia and/or fibula [e.g., osteomyelitis or bone abscess]) to report the procedure. Code 01480 (anesthesia for open procedures on bones of lower leg, ankle, and foot; not otherwise specified) would be the corresponding anesthesia code. ICD-9 codes 015.5 (tuberculosis of bones and joints; limb bones) or 730.88 (osteomyelitis, periostitis, and other infections involving bone; other infections involving bone in diseases classified elsewhere; other specified sites) would support the procedures necessity.