Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: What is the best way to code an iliopsoas infusion?

Kentucky Subscriber

Answer: Check with your provider for verification, but your most accurate choice probably is 64449 (Injection, anesthetic agent; lumbar plexus, posterior approach, continuous infusion by catheter [including catheter placement]).

Here's why: The lumbar plexus passes through the iliopsoas muscle compartment and is the typical posterior access for a lumbar plexus block, which is why 64449 could apply.

-- Answers to You Be the Coder and Reader Questions were provided by Scott Groudine, MD, an Albany, N.Y., anesthesiologist; and Marvel J. Hammer, RN, CPC, CCS-P, ACS-PM, CHCO, owner of MJH Consulting in Denver.