Wiki Corn treated by electrodessication

[Tillermeg10@gmail.com]

If a provider treated corns (L84) by electrodessication can this be billed as 11055 or is 17110 appropriate?

 

[podcoder70]

I am curious, is this a routine way of removal for corns by this provider? If so, are the corns returning? Due to the nature of a corn, it usually returns. Are they using this method as a means to "pare" the corn?
11055-57 is defined as "paring or cutting" of the corn or callus. 17110 is destruction...is this method destroying the lesion? If it is destroying the lesion, then L84 would not be the diagnosis you would want to use. The following are a selection of codes recommended:

B08.1	-	Molluscum contagiosum
B07.9	-	Viral wart, unspecified
B07.0	-	Plantar wart
B07.8	-	Other viral warts
D23.7-	-	Other benign neoplasm of skin of lower limb, including hip
L57.0	-	Actinic keratosis
L82.0	-	Inflamed seborrheic keratosis
L82.1	-	Other seborrheic keratosis
L72.3	-	Sebaceous cyst
L72.0	-	Epidermal cyst
L94.2	-	Calcinosis cutis
L92.1	-	Necrobiosis lipoidica, not elsewhere classified
L98.8	-	Other specified disorders of the skin and subcutaneous tissue
Q82.8	-	Other specified congenital malformations of skin

If, however, this method is not destroying the lesion and it is being used because the doctor likes to use it and it is a cool piece of equipment, I would opine that it is "cutting" the corn and 11055-57 should be used.