Pediatric Coding Alert

Question: How should we code for foreign body removal of an earring underneath the skin?

Virginia Subscriber

Answer: The correct code is 10120* (incision and removal of foreign body, subcutaneous tissues; simple) or 10121 ( complicated). Whether to use the simple or complicated code depends on your clinical judgment: If the wound is infected, the complicated code may be more appropriate. Use 10120*, for example, for splinter removal. Do not use the incision and drainage code (10060*, incision and drainage of abscess [e.g., carbuncle, suppurative hidradenitis, cutaneous or subcutaneous abscess, cyst, furuncle, or paronychia]; simple or single). Foreign body removal more accurately describes the procedure you mention.

If you use a starred procedure code, you can also bill for an office visit but only if the work of the office visit is significant and separately identifiable from the work of the earring removal.


Answers for Reader Questions and You Be the Coder contributed by Richard Tuck, MD, FAAP, member and founding chair, AAP coding and reimbursement committee, and practicing pediatrician, Zanesville, Ohio.