Advanced Search

Otolaryngology Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

You Need to Know Approach for CSF Repair Code

Published on Wed May 30, 2012

Question: An otolaryngologist and neurosurgeon are doing a surgery together. The patient has had a chronic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak from a motor vehicle accident (MVA) that she was in a few years ago. She is an established patient of the otolaryngologist, who has attempted to repair the CSF leak but with no long-term success.The two surgeons plan on performing a transnasal repair of the CSF leak. The technique is the same as if they were using the operating microscope to do a transnasal approach for the excision of a pituitary tumor (61548), but they are not removing anything, just closing the dura. I don't believe there is a code for this. Code 31291 describes surgical repair of a CSF leak in the sphenoid region (31291) using an endoscope, but the neurosurgeon said they wouldn't be using the endoscope. How should I report this procedure?Ohio SubscriberAnswer: You should use the [...]
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in your eNewsletter
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs*
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more
*CEUs available with select eNewsletters.

Other Articles in this issue of

Otolaryngology Coding Alert

View All