Anesthesia Coding Alert
Here’s Where to Draw the Line Between ‘Upper’ and ‘Lower’ Abdomen
Question: I know that some anesthesia codes are applied based on whether the area treated was the upper or lower abdomen. How do I know which are the correct anesthesia codes for upper and lower abdominal intraperitoneal procedures? North Carolina Subscriber Answer: The patient’s belly button is the dividing line between upper and lower code choices. If the surgery is on an organ that is internally below the belly button, it’s a lower abdominal procedure and is coded with 00840 (Anesthesia for intraperitoneal procedures in lower abdomen including laparoscopy; not otherwise specified). If the surgery site is above the belly button, consider it an upper abdominal procedure and report 00790 (Anesthesia for intraperitoneal procedures in upper abdomen including laparoscopy; not otherwise specified). You should also be familiar with what constitutes intraperitoneal and extraperitoneal classifications:
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