Otolaryngology Coding Alert
You Be the Coder:
Check This to Decide Between 30130 and 30140
Published on Tue Jul 15, 2014
Question: The surgeon documented that he used a blade to submucosally excise tissue with microdebrider and suction through a tube. Would we code this with 30140?
Florida Subscriber
Answer: Code 30140 (Submucous resection inferior turbinate, partial or complete, any method) specifies excision of bone. Because of this, you must have documentation that the surgeon cut the mucosa to get to the bone and remove it, preserving the mucosa. Think of it like removing a finger from a glove.
If the surgeon removed the mucosa and bone together, however, the correct code would be 30130 (Excision inferior turbinate, partial or complete, any method).
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