Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: Which anesthesia codes are used for burn excision/debridement?

Alaska Subscriber

Answer: CPT^® provides three anesthesia codes for burn excision/debridement that are quite distinct from the anesthesia codes you’re used to seeing on a day-to-day basis. Take the time to refresh your knowledge on these.

The three anesthesia codes for burn excision/debridement that CPT^® offers are:

• 01951 – 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; less than 4% total body surface area
• 01952 – …. between 4% and 9% of total body surface area
• +01953 – ... each additional 9 percent total body surface area or part thereof   (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure).

Important note: If the TBSA is greater than 9 percent, you should use +01953 with 01952, according to CPT^®. You can’t skip 01952 to get to the add-on code.