Wiki Codes 51050 and 51040

[ebel82]

Can you bill for a cystolithotomy (51050) and spt placement (51040) together? Per Encoder Pro, the codes don't bundle but I feel the spt placement work is included on the cystolithotomy procedure.

 

[daniel]

Only code 51050, Lay description states insertion of drain tube at the end of procedure. This would be integral in this context.

The physician makes an incision in the bladder to remove a calculus. To access the bladder, the physician makes an incision in the skin of the lower abdomen and cuts the corresponding muscles, fat, and fibrous membranes (fascia). The physician performs a cystotomy, isolates the calculus, and removes it. The bladder neck is not excised. After examining the bladder for other defects, the physician sutures the incision and performs a layered closure using absorbable sutures, inserting a drain tube through a stab incision in the skin.