Orthopedic Coding Alert
Pick Apart 'Primary' vs. 'Secondary'
Question: For codes such as 27695, 27696 and 27698, what do the terms “primary” and “secondary” mean? Does secondary mean the patient had a previous surgery for the tear, or does it refer to a surgical method?
Louisiana Subscriber
Answer: The answer is that “secondary” relates to both a subsequent surgery and surgical method.
Note these code descriptors:
Primary: In these codes, “primary” refers to the rare direct repair of an acute ligament injury or severe ankle sprain.
Secondary: “Secondary” refers to repair of chronic ligamentous problems, such as for an athlete with frequent and recurrent ankle sprains. For secondary repairs, keep an eye out for the following key words:
Both the Watson-Jones and Crisman-Snook procedures involve harvesting a local tendon, usually a portion of one of the peroneal tendons. If your surgeon’s operative note mentions harvesting a personal tendon, it is almost certainly a secondary repair, or 27698.
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