Radiology Coding Alert

Question: How do I code a thrombin injection for a pseudoaneurysm of the lower extremity? Would it be appropriate to assign CPT 36299 with the report attached?

Montana Subscriber

Answer: There is no code specific to this service. Therefore it would be correct to code this procedure with either the unlisted vascular injection code (36299) or 35141-52 (direct repair of aneurysm, false aneurysm, or excision [partial or total] and graft insertion, with or without patch graft; for aneurysm, false aneurysm, and associated occlusive disease, common femoral artery [profunda femoris, superficial femoral] - reduced services).

Either of these codes should be reported with the imaging guidance technique used, typically ultrasound 76942 (ultrasonic guidance for needle placement [e.g., biopsy, aspiration, injection, localization device], imaging supervision and interpretation). A new code for percutaneous treatment of extremity artery pseudo-
aneurysms will be available in 2002.