Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert
READER QUESTIONS:
What's Primary For Debridement?
Published on Sun Jan 01, 2006 
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Question: We have a patient who had a gastric bypass for the treatment of obesity, diabetes and hypertension. She has now lost 95 pounds and had a panniculectomy three weeks ago. The wound is devascularized, and she was admitted to the hospital for debridement. There is no cellulitis or purulence. The physician states that the wound will take months to heal and may require a skin graft. Is the correct primary diagnosis a non-healing surgical wound?
Massachusetts Subscriber
Answer: Yes, report 998.83 (Non-healing surgical wound). Remember, this is a foreseen complication of this surgery because of the blood supply disruptions as a result of this surgery.
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