Radiology Coding Alert

Reflux in one or more veins in the legs is common due to venous hypertension. When you read through the clinical note, you may notice that your physician documents typical symptoms of pain in the legs, throbbing sensation in legs, frequent night cramps and fatigue, itching, and occasional bleeding. In addition, your physician may document skin changes like eczema, pigmentation, atrophy, ulceration, and edema.

Endovenous ablation therapy is used for treating chronic venous disorders in the lower extremities. There are two types of thermal ablation procedures:

• Endovenous laser ablation (ELA), and
• Radiofrequency ablation (RFA).

Both these procedures have an underlying principle of using thermal energy for effective ablation. Your physician will typically perform these procedures using a local anesthetic. Sedation is not needed for these procedures. These procedures help relieve the symptoms and complications like ulceration. Recurrence rates are also low with these procedures.