Orthopedic Coding Alert
Compare Your Unlisted Codes With Existing Ones
Question: Our orthopedist performed what he called -arthroscopy of the left knee, partial fat pad resection.- His report also noted a diagnosis of patellar fat pad impingement from hypertrophic fat pad retropatellar. How should we report this procedure? Answer: Unfortunately, CPT doesn't include a code that correlates to your orthopedist's treatment. So you-ll have to rely on 29999 (Unlisted procedure, arthroscopy). When setting your fee for this procedure, you should compare it to 29875 (Arthroscopy, knee, surgical; synovectomy, limited [e.g., plica or shelf resection] [separate procedure]) because it most closely reflects the work associated with the arthroscopic fat pad resection.
Illinois Subscriber
When you-re assigning ICD-9 codes to show medical necessity for the procedure, you should use 729.31 (Hypertrophy of fat pad, knee). You can also rely on signs and symptoms codes, such as 719.46 (Pain in joint; lower leg).
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