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Orthopedic Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

You Don't Need 59 for This Surgery Combo

Published on Sat Feb 17, 2007

Question: May I report all three surgeries when the physician performs a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repair and a torn medial meniscus repair on a Medicare patient when the physician also performs chondroplasty on the lateral tibial plateau? Colorado Subscriber Answer: You can report all three surgeries. Here's how: - ACL repair: 29888 (Arthroscopically aided anterior cruciate-ligament repair/augmentation or reconstruction) - medial meniscus repair: 29882-51 (Arthroscopy, knee, surgical; with meniscus repair [medial OR lateral]; multiple-procedures) - lateral-chondroplasty: G0289 (Arthroscopy, knee, surgical, for removal of-loose body, foreign body, debridement/shaving of-articular cartilage [chondroplasty] at the time of other surgical knee arthroscopy in a different-compartment of the same knee). The Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) doesn't bundle these codes together, so you don't need to append modifier 59 (Distinct procedural service) to any of them.
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