READER QUESTIONS:
00400 Best Bet for Chest Wall Mass Excision
Published on Tue Nov 01, 2005
Question: What code should I report for excision of arteriovascular malformation in the chest wall?
Vermont Subscriber
Answer: The chest wall--where the patient's malformation is located--is muscle. Consequently, the best code is 00400 (Anesthesia for procedures on the integumentary system on the extremities, anterior trunk and perineum; not otherwise specified) because the surgeon performed a skin/muscle procedure.
Some coders wonder if 00560 (Anesthesia for procedures on heart, pericardial sac, and great vessels of chest; without pump oxygenator) or 00562 (- with pump oxygenator) might apply to this procedure. Because the chest wall is muscle and does not involve the heart or great vessels, 00400 is the more accurate choice.