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Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Pinpoint Nerve Block Code by Anatomy

Published on Mon Oct 24, 2005

Question: Please tell me what to report for:  Procedure performed: supraorbital nerve block and supratrochlear nerve block.
 
Main diagnosis: supraorbital neuralgia (code?)

Secondary Dx: tension headache (307.81). These nerve blocks are forehead-region anesthesia blocks. The nerves are in the cranial region. There is no specific CPT code for these blocks.


Kentucky Subscriber
Answer: The best code choice for the procedure you describe is 64400 (Injection, anesthetic agent; trigeminal nerve, any division or branch). Both of the nerves the
neurologist targets in this case are small branches of the first division (ophthalmic nerve) of the trigeminal nerve (cranial nerve V).

Also, your diagnosis code for supraorbital neuralgia would be 350.1 (Trigeminal neuralgia [tic douloureux, trigeminal neuralgia NOS and trifacial neuralgia]), a common diagnosis for neurogenic pain.
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