Wiki Calcific tendinitis with rotator cuff repair

[coderguy1939]

I'm hoping to get some official coding guidelines on this question because I'm seeing this situation more and more often.

The doctor is doing arthroscopic debridement of a calcific rotator tendon. There is no tear in the cuff, but after debridement there is a defect caused by the debridement that needs repair. The doctor wants to code both the debridement and the repair.

I have feedback from a very good resource that only the debridement should be coded because the defect was a result of the surgical approach to remove the calcium.

I'd appreciate as much feedback on this as possible with any official guidelines as back up.

Thanks.

 

[hewitt]

Which CPTs are you planning on using?

 

[coderguy1939]

For debridement, 29823.