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Orthopedic Coding Alert

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Does 27488 Include Spacer Insertion?

Published on Mon Feb 06, 2006

Question: Our surgeon removed an infected total knee replacement (TKR) prosthesis and put in an antibiotic spacer. Which CPT codes should we report for the prosthesis removal and the spacer insertion?


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Answer: You should report 27488 (Removal of prosthesis, including total knee prosthesis, methylmethacrylate with or without insertion of spacer, knee) for your surgeon's work.

Because 27488 includes the surgeon's work placing the spacer, you don't need to report any additional codes to reflect the time inserting the antibiotic spacer.
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