Anesthesia Coding Alert
Turn Here for Anesthesia During Open Cholecystectomy
Question: A patient scheduled for an open cholecystectomy was found to have severe gangrene of the gallbladder with intra-abdominal abscess. Open drainage of the intra-abdominal abscess was performed. Only a partial cholecystectomy could be performed due to the condition of the gallbladder. How do we code for the anesthesiologist’s service? Missouri Subscriber Answer: The surgeon will report 47600 (Cholecystectomy) for the procedure and append modifier 52 (Reduced services) since the surgeon did not complete the full procedure. The corresponding anesthesia code is 00790 (Anesthesia for intraperitoneal procedures in upper abdomen including laparoscopy; not otherwise specified). The fact that the surgeon didn’t complete the fully anticipated procedure doesn’t matter from an anesthesia standpoint. Code 00790 carries 7 base units, so report that with the applicable time units.
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