Assess These Ablation Differences
Question: The surgeon’s operative report mentions they used laser ablation to control the patient’s bleeding during surgery. What is the difference between laser ablation and radiofrequency ablation? Wyoming Subscriber Answer: Simply put, laser ablation uses heat from focused light energy to cauterize the tissue, thus stopping the bleeding, while radiofrequency ablation uses the heat from focused radio waves to reach the same goal. Depending on what type of surgery your practitioner is performing, there are many ablation codes to choose from. Code 58563 (Hysteroscopy, surgical; with endometrial ablation (eg, endometrial resection, electrosurgical ablation, thermoablation) is an example of a laser ablation code. Code 30801 (Ablation, soft tissue of inferior turbinates, unilateral or bilateral, any method (eg, electrocautery, radiofrequency ablation, or tissue volume reduction); superficial) is an example of a radiofrequency ablation code. Lindsey Bush, BA, MA, CPC, Production Editor, AAPC
