Urology Coding Alert

In an article on treating bladder neck contracture by incision in the May 2001 issue of Urology Coding Alert (Get Paid for Bladder Neck Contracture Treated With an Incision), we omitted 52640 (transurethral resection; of postoperative bladder neck contracture) as a coding option.

There is no specific code for treatment by incision rather than resection, so we recommended 52400, 52500-22, 52275, 52277 or unlisted procedure code CPT 53899. Technically, one could also use 52640, but this code specifies resection, not incision. We did not mention this choice because most urologists prefer not to perform a resection post-prostatectomy, because it produces a second, tighter bladder neck contracture that can be worse than the first.

The procedure of choice for a bladder neck stricture following simple prostatectomy is a cold incision of the stricture, as discussed in the article.