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Gastroenterology Coding Alert

READER QUESTIONS:

Sounds Like 2 Procedures, but Use Just 1 Code

Published on Mon Mar 23, 2009

Question: My physician's note says "EGD with removal of a dysfunctional PEG tube and placement of a 20 French U.S. endoscopy PEG tube." How should I code these? Rhode Island Subscriber Answer: The correct code is 43246 (Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy including esophagus, stomach, and either the duodenum and/or jejunum as appropriate; with directed placement of percutaneous gastrostomy tube). Your gastroenterologist is replacing a feeding tube that runs through the patient's skin straight into the stomach.The removal of the old percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube is incidental to its replacement, so you just need one code.
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