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Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Brush Up on Blighted Ovum

Published on Fri May 11, 2007

Question: Should I use 59812 or 59840 for a blighted ovum?


Kentucky Subscriber
Answer: Neither of these codes is correct. If you use 59812 (Treatment of incomplete abortion, any trimester, completed surgically), this means the patient is already aborting and the surgeon goes in to remove the products that were not expelled. And you would only use 59840 (Induced abortion, by dilation and curettage) for an elective abortion, which is not the same thing as a blighted ovum. You should report the surgical removal of a blighted ovum with 59820 (Treatment of missed abortion, completed surgically; first trimester) because a blighted ovum is a form of a missed abortion.
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