Urology Coding Alert

Question: What code should I use for a "partial scrotectomy," as termed by my urologist?

Oregon Subscriber

Answer: Not only are you facing a procedural term that won't be found in the CPT book, but you also have to account for the fact that only part of the scrotum was removed. But thanks to CPT's division of the male genital system into procedures by body part, you can narrow down your search to six codes.

Of the six scrotum procedure codes, only one code represents a resection, or "-ectomy" procedure: 55150 (Resection of scrotum). And because this procedure does not specify how much of the scrotum was resected, you will not need to append a modifier to 55150 to indicate that the scrotectomy was partial. But if the partial scrotectomy was performed in addition to another procedure, you may need to append modifier -51 (Multiple procedures) to 55150.