Orthopedic Coding Alert

Question: Our surgeon documented an excision for thickening of the Achilles tendon, and dictated a diagnosis of calcific Achilles' tendonitis. Which CPT and ICD-9 codes should we report?

Answer: You should report 727.82 (Calcium deposits in tendon and bursa) as the diagnosis code for this procedure, because the surgeon referred to a calcific tendon.

The calcification qualifies as a lesion, so the correct CPT code is 27630 (Excision of lesion of tendon sheath or capsule [e.g., cyst or ganglion], leg and/or ankle]).