Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Question: How do we bill for right temporal craniotomy with reconstruction of skull base; repair of encephalocele and harvest fat graft?

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Answer: The craniotomy for repair of an encephalocele at the skull base would be reported with 62121 (Craniotomy for repair of encephalocele, skull base). If a fat graft was harvested locally through the craniotomy exposure, no separate code would be reported for the fat graft. If a separate site was exposed for the fat graft, one may report 20926 (Tissue grafts, other [e.g., paratenon, fat, dermis]).