Orthopedic Coding Alert

Question: The orthopedist performs repair of a disrupted ankle ligament. I’m seeing a few coding options, but I don’t know which one to use. Can you help?

Missouri Subscriber

Answer: The three repair codes you’ll choose among for this claim are 27695 (Repair, primary, disrupted ligament, ankle; collateral), 27696 (… both collateral ligaments), and 27698 (Repair, secondary, disrupted ligament, ankle, collateral (eg, Watson-Jones procedure)). These codes are used when the orthopedist performs surgical repair of a disrupted collateral ligament in the ankle, which helps stabilize the ankle joint.

Here’s a brief primer on each code:

• 27695: The provider repairs a single collateral ligament, either the medial collateral ligament or the lateral collateral ligament, disrupted due to an acute injury, such as a dislocation or sprain of the ligaments.
• 27696: The provider performs the same surgery as described in 27695 — except on both collateral ligaments.
• 27698: The provider performs a secondary repair of a disrupted collateral ligament by mobilizing other tendons to replace the collateral ligament. The provider performs this procedure when the injury is not recent.