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Anesthesia Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Crosswalk 65420 or 65426 to 00140 for Pterygium Surgery

Published on Sat Jan 01, 2011

Question: How should we code for pterygium surgery performed in a surgery center? What's the associated charge? Answer: CPT includes two procedure codes for pterygium surgery: 65420 (Excision of transposition of pterygium; without graft) or 65426 (... with graft). Both codes cross to anesthesia code 00140 (Anesthesia for procedures on eye, not otherwise specified). Code 00140 carries a value of five base units, which you should add to the total anesthesia time units and multiply by your anesthesia conversion factor. Procedure: A pterygium is a slightly elevated, superficial, fleshy growth that covers and changes the shape of the cornea. The growth might be yellow, gray, white, red, pink, or colorless. The growth might stay small or might grow large enough to interfere with vision. If conservative treatments fail, the patient might undergo surgery to remove the growth.
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