Otolaryngology Coding Alert

Question: I need help coding a thyroidectomy and removal of lymph nodes when the lymph nodes turn out not to be malignant. If the pathology comes back malignant, I would use 60252. For benign nodes, what would I code?

California Subscriber

Answer: Code 60252 (Thyroidectomy, total or subtotal for malignancy; with limited neck dissection) would be appropriate whether there is malignancy in the nodes or not, since the code describes malignancy for the thyroid, not the lymph nodes.

If the otolaryngologist performed a radical neck dissection for the thyroid malignancy, report 60254 (Thyroidectomy, total or subtotal for malignancy; with radical neck dissection).