Neurosurgery Coding Alert
Use This Advice on Sequestrectomy
Question: When the surgeon removes diseased bone and tissue from the brain, should I report one of the foreign body removal (FBR) codes? Louisiana Subscriber Answer: No, you should choose a different code for removal of diseased bone and tissue, also known as sequestrectomy. On the claim, you’d report 61501 (Craniectomy; for osteomyelitis) for the surgery. Since the bone and tissue removed were already there—i.e., they weren’t foreign bodies—then the surgeon didn’t perform an FBR. Dx clues: You might be able to tell whether the surgery is a sequestrectomy based on the diagnosis codes present in the report. Here are some ICD-10 codes you might see on a 61501 claim: Brain FBR explained: While you’ll report 61501 for the removal of diseased tissue or bone from the brain, you’ll report these codes for a brain FBR: Dx clues: You might be able to tell whether the surgery is a brain FBR based on the diagnosis codes present on the report. Here are some ICD-10 codes you might see on a 61570/61571 claim:
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