You Be the Coder:
Multiple Knee Codes
Published on Wed May 01, 2002
Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the box below for the answer.
Question: The surgeon performed a meniscectomy on two compartments in the knee (29880) as well as microfracture chondroplasties (29879) on both the lateral and medial condyles and the trochlear groove. Should I bill 29879 more than once?
Ohio Subscriber
Answer: There are three compartments in the knee: the medial, lateral and patellofemoral. Chondroplasty/abrasion arthroplasty codes (29877, Arthroscopy, knee, surgical; debridement/shaving of articular cartilage [chondroplasty], and 29879, abrasion arthroplasty [includes chondroplasty where necessary] or multiple drilling or microfracture) can be reported with a meniscectomy (29880, with meniscectomy [medial and lateral, including any meniscal shaving], or 29881, with meniscectomy [medial or lateral, including any meniscal shaving]) only when the chondroplasty/abrasion arthroplasty is performed in a separate compartment. Note that American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons guidelines in Complete Global Service Data for Orthopedic Surgery state that chondroplasty/abrasion arthroplasty codes should be reported only once per arthroscopic procedures regardless of how many compartments are addressed. With this in mind, report 29879 only once for the surgery in question.
