Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

Question: My ob-gyn removed cerclage sutures during a patient's pregnancy. How should I report this?

Wisconsin Subscriber

Answer: The answer depends on two factors: 1) Did your ob-gyn place the cerclage in the first place (59320, Cerclage of cervix, during pregnancy; vaginal; or 59325, - abdominal)? 2) And did the ob-gyn remove the sutures under anesthesia?

You should not separately report the subsequent cerclage suture removal prior to delivery if your physician (or another physician in your practice) placed them.

But if your ob-gyn performs the cerclage removal under anesthesia , you may report 59871 (Removal of cerclage suture under anesthesia [other than local]) at the time of removal.

Note: Both 59320 and 59325 have 0-day global periods. So unless the physician places the cerclage and removes it the same day, you won't have to worry about a global period getting in the way.

If your physician or a physician in your practice did not place the cerclage and didn't use anesthesia during the suture removal, this is simply an E/M service that payers may consider included in global ob care.

Heads up: The February 2007 CPT Assistant clarified this cerclage suture issue from a previous misprint published in the November 2006 CPT Assistant.