Anesthesia Coding Alert

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a minimally invasive procedure that involves placing a transducer at the end of an endoscope. The scope is inserted into the patient's esophagus and measures the direction and velocity of blood flow to record a two-dimensional echocardiography of the heart, vascular and thoracic structures. TEE is often considered to be standard care during certain procedures, such as a diagnosis of myocardial ischemia (414.8) or confirmation that surgical valve repair has been successful. Many physicians feel that TEE is more advantageous than other procedures such as transthoracic echocardiography because TEE can be left in place throughout the surgery to continuously monitor the patient (as opposed to being used intermittently) and detect problems early.