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General Surgery Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Let Anatomy Guide Your FBR Coding

Published on Wed May 27, 2009

Question: A patient came to our practice with pain in his shoulder. During the visit, the patient explained that he-d had several metal shavings embedded in his shoulder from a work accident two weeks before, but he thought he had removed them all. The physician had to perform an incisional foreign body removal. The documentation states that the surgeon had to remove the metal from "below the fascia." I know I shouldn't use 10120 or 10121, but which code should I use? Colorado Subscriber Answer: You should turn to the musculoskeletal section of the CPT manual: 20000-29999. When reporting a foreign body removal (FBR) from a musculoskeletal site (muscle or bone), you-ll select the proper code based on the anatomic location and the depth of the incision your physician documented. The CPT manual's musculoskeletal section includes specific FBR codes for the shoulder, humerus (upper arm) and elbow, hip, femur (thigh [...]
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