Question: We are providing wound care and IV antibiotic administration for a post-operative abdominal wound infection due to Staph aureus. How should I code?
-- Vermont Subscriber
Answer: For this patient, list:
• 998.59 (Other postoperative infection);
• 041.11 (Staphylococcus aureus); and
• V58.81 (Fitting and adjustment of vascular catheter).
Don't report a surgical dressing V code for this wound because it's a complicated wound.
If the Staph aureus is methicillin-resistant, follow the 041.11 code with V09.0 (Infection with microorganisms resistant to penicillins).
Unless otherwise indicated, reader questions were answered by Lisa Selman-Holman, JD, BSN, RN, HCS-D, COS-C, consultant and principal of Selman-Holman & Associates in Denton, TX.
