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Anesthesia Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Calculate TBSA When Dealing with Burns

Published on Mon Jan 04, 2010

Question: My anesthesiologist administered anesthesia for a burn excision on the leg of a middle-aged adult male, but he didn't give clear notes on the patient's affected body surface area. How do I code for this? Kansas Subscriber Answer: You will start by coding 01952 (Anesthesia for second- and third-degree burn excision or debridement with or without skin grafting, any site, for total body surface area [TBSA] treated during anesthesia and surgery; between 4 percent and 9 percent of total body surface area) and add +01953 ( . . . each additional 9 percent total body surface area or part thereof [List separately in addition to code for primary procedure]) as necessary. Next, you'll need to find documentation of the patient's affected total body surface area (TBSA). The attending surgeon typically documents the TBSA of the burn victim. The history and physical (H&P) portion of the surgeon's documentation may have [...]
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