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Otolaryngology Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Stick to This Diagnosis for Cleaning Procedure

Published on Mon Oct 26, 2009

Question: A patient had a mastoidectomy. He comes to the clinic for debridement of the mastoidectomy cavity every three to six months. What ICD-9 code do I use for the debris that is removed? Nebraska Subscriber Answer: Although you'll find several diagnosis codes that you can use for 69220 (Debridement, mastoidectomy cavity, simple [e.g., routine cleaning]),code 383.33 (Granulations of postmastoidectomy cavity) is most commonly associated with granuloma or debris in the mastoid. Another way: Other possibilities include 383.89 (Other disorders of mastoid), when granuloma documentation is not specific enough for 383.33. ICD-9 also offers 383.32 (Recurrent cholesteatoma of postmastoidectomy cavity).
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