You Be the Coder:
Determine PEEK Cage Levels
Published on Wed Aug 10, 2011
Question: How do you code when the surgeon did corpectomies at C4 and C5, fusion(s) from C3-C6, used PEEK (polyetheretherketone) cage and 30 mm screws? The surgeon used three separate, stackable, PEEK cages to fill the space. Ohio Subscriber Answer: Cages are reported per level not per cage. In this case, the surgeon has fused across 3 levels - C3-4, C4-5, C5- 6 and used three cages, so you would report code 22851 (Application of intervertebral biomechanical device[s] [eg, synthetic cage[s], methylmethacrylate] to vertebral defect or interspace [List separately in addition to code for primary procedure])x3. You also report 63081 (Vertebral corpectomy [vertebral body resection], partial or complete, anterior approach with decompression of spinal cord and/or nerve root[s]; cervical, single segment) and 63082 (Vertebral corpectomy [vertebral body resection], partial or complete, anterior approach with decompression of spinal cord and/or nerve root[s]; cervical, each additional segment [List separately in addition to [...]
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