Pulmonology Coding Alert

Question: Our physician performed laryngoscopy which included lesion destruction. What code should I report for that?

Virginia Subscriber

Answer: You would use code 31572 (Laryngoscopy, flexible; with ablation or destruction of lesion(s) with laser, unilateral) for this work.

Check the procedure note to see if your provider treated lesions on both sides of the larynx. If so, you would append modifier 50 (Bilateral procedure) to 31572 to reflect that work.

CPT® Guidelines for this code indicate that for therapeutic interventions in the larynx, “all paired structures contained within one side of the larynx/pharynx are considered unilateral.” Code 31572 is “inherently unilateral” but it’s also a modifier 50-eligible code, according to the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, so you can append the modifier if you can show the work was in fact bilateral.