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General Surgery Coding Alert

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Hernia Terminology Key to Code Selection

Published on Wed Nov 17, 2010

Question: What is the difference between umbilical hernia and ventral hernia? What do I need to look for in the op report to decipher the correct code? Answer: The difference is the where the hernia is located and how it formed. As the name implies, an umbilical hernia occurs at the umbilicus (belly-button), but that's not the only criteria. An umbilical hernia involves residual structures from when the cord fed the fetus directly into the intestine. An umbilical hernia is rare, except in infants. "Ventral hernia" is a fairly general term that may describe a hernia occurring at various abdominal sites, such as the site of a previous surgery (incisional hernia), above the umbilicus (epigastric hernia), or on the side of the abdomen (spigelian hernia). An incisional hernia might also occur at the umbilicus, but that does not make it an umbilical hernia. An abdominal hernia occurs when the peritoneal [...]
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