General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: We have a new surgeon in our practice who specializes in vascular surgery, and I need some help coding for these procedures. If the surgeon introduces a catheter into the common femoral artery and advances it to the aorta for an abdominal aortogram before removing the catheter, how should I code the procedure?

California Subscriber

Answer: The correct code for the catheter placement is 36200 (Introduction of catheter, aorta). This is a non-selective catheterization, which means that the surgeon places the catheter directly into the desired blood vessel or organ. The procedure does not involve manipulation, and the surgeon only advances the catheter to the level of the thoracic or abdominal aorta or vena cava before removing it. In non-selective catheterization, the surgeon does not advance the catheter into other branches of the vascular family.

The abdominal aortogram takes a separate code. You should additionally bill 75625 (Aortography, abdominal, by serialography, radiological supervision and interpretation) for that service.