Wiki need help with debridement

[Ritika]

Hi,

Can any one help me with criteria for arthroscopic debridement...What is the criteria to keep in mind while coding whether the debridement is limited or extensive..thanks in advance.

 

[simam]

I searched online for you.I found it . It might help u


29822: For minor debridement of soft tissue, including labral debridement, cuff debridement, and so on.

29823: Either for debridement of multiple soft tissue structures (labrum, subscapularis, supraspinatus) and/or a chondroplasty of the humeral head or glenoid.

 

[vankapatitc]

Hi,

Can any one help me with criteria for arthroscopic debridement...What is the criteria to keep in mind while coding whether the debridement is limited or extensive..thanks in advance.

Hi Ritika chaitanya here,

clarify me one thing, r you looking for arthroscopic debridement of knee(meniscus)

Regards,
chaitanya

 

[Ritika]

Hi,

No I am looking for general including coth knee and shoulder arthroscopic debridement. In short, My main focus is how can we determine whether the debridement done by provider is limited or extensive...

 

[Orthocoderpgu]

This cannot be answered so easily

Debridement is usually considered "Extensive" if done on "More than one side" such as if the ankle is being debrided both medial and lateral.

There is only one code for knee debridement which is 29877, which cannot be billed with other arthroscopic codes. There is no extensive or limited of the knee.

The shoulder gets very tricky. It depends on what was debrided and how much was done. If soft tissues are debrided then usually extensive debridement means that the doctor debrided the shoulder from anterior to posterior. For the shoulder code 29822 can not be billed with other codes, and 29823 can only be billed with 29824, 29827 & 29828.

Shoulder would need to be debrided Anterior to posterior, or multiple soft tissues, or a type three acromion which is extensive.

Keep in mind that if debridement is done as part of a restorative procedure, such as a rotator cuff repair or biceps tenodesis, this debridement is not included with 29822 or 29823.