Wiki Arthroscopic excision of ganglion cyst

[cynsteve04@aol.com]

The Dr performed a medial and lateral meniscectomy .In the intercondylar notch there was a ganglion cyst 1cm that was removed . Could i code for that separately as an unlisted procedure 29999 , since there is no cpt code for this as an arthroscopic procedure ? Or is this included with the meniscectomy

 

[amyjph]

In my opinion, I would not try to code for this separately. There is no code that I know of for ganglion removal via scope so you are correct that if you were to report it you would have to go unlisted. Was it "found" and just cleaned up while they went in for the scope? Since chondroplasty is included as part of the description of 29880 I think I would consider the ganglion included. From a RCM perspective I think reporting an unlisted & 29880 could cause a records request, delay in payment and possible denial of the whole claim and in the end probably would not be paid anyway.