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Anesthesia Coding Alert

READER QUESTIONS:

00860 Is Better Code for TVT Surgery

Published on Wed Mar 22, 2006

Question: What anesthesia code should I use for TVT (transvaginal taping) surgery? Some physicians report 00942 and others report 00860.


Washington Subscriber
Answer: Code 00942 (Anesthesia for vaginal procedures [including biopsy of labia, vagina, cervix or endometrium]; colpotomy, vaginectomy, colporrhaphy, and open urethral procedures) is specific to the female anatomy, which could be why some of your physicians prefer it to 00860 (Anesthesia for extraperitoneal procedures in lower abdomen, including urinary tract; not otherwise specified).
 
Many coders, however, believe that 00860 best describes the surgery. The surgeon will report 57288 (Sling operation for stress incontinence [e.g., fascia or synthetic]). This crosses to anesthesia code 00860, so that's another factor in favor of reporting 00860. You Be the Coder and Reader Questions were provided by Jarrod Prater, an anesthesia coding analyst with Tulsa Hillcrest Anesthesiology Physicians in Oklahoma.
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