Eli's Rehab Report

You Be the Coder:

Billing for Procaine Injections

Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the box below for the answer.




Question: The physiatrist in our office has recently begun treating one of her patients for scar fibrosis with procaine injections. The scar in question is about 12 inches long and required 24 injections. What is the best way to code for this procedure?

Beverly Gustafson
Albany, N.Y.


Answer: You should bill for the injection depending on the location of the scar. For example, the following list of injection codes may help you determine the correct code, based on the scar site:

90782 therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic
injection (specify material injected);
subcutaneous or intramuscular

20550 injection, tendon sheath, ligament,
trigger points or ganglion cyst

20605 arthrocentesis, aspiration and/or
injection; intermediate joint, bursa or ganglion
cyst (e.g., wrist, elbow, ankle)

20610 arthrocentesis, aspiration and/or
injection; major joint, bursa or ganglion cyst
(e.g., shoulder, hip, knee joint)


There are other injection codes in CPT 2000, listed under the spine and spinal cord section of the Surgery/Nervous System heading.

The HCPCS code for the drug itself is HCPCS J2690 (procainamide HCl, up to 1 gram).