Revenue Cycle Insider

Question: How do I code the anesthesia service for a foreign body removal in the airway?

Maine Subscriber

Answer: The CPT^® Index guides us to one code for removal of foreign body in the airway.

This is found under Removal > Foreign Body > Bronchi. Look to code 31635 (Bronchoscopy, rigid or flexible, including fluoroscopic guidance when performed; with removal of foreign body).

Using the American Society for Anesthesiologists (ASA) crosswalk, this code crosses over to a 00520. There is an alternate code listed at 00326 (Anesthesia for all procedures on the larynx and trachea in children younger than 1 year of age). Code 00326 should only be used when the patient is younger than 1 year.

Julie McDaniel, MHA, CPC, CANPC