Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

Question: The podiatrist performed a procedure to correct curly toes. First, he made an incision in the skin over the patient’s toe and dissected down through subcutaneous tissue. He then retracted the nerves and blood vessels to identify the tight muscle tendons and other soft tissues and adhesions. He released the tight soft tissue and transferred the muscle tendons from their original attachments to new locations so the muscle no longer pulled on the joint, causing a toe deformity. He stopped the bleeding at the surgical site and closed the wound by suturing the soft tissue in layers. The podiatrist placed the patient’s foot in a soft dressing for a few weeks to maintain the corrected alignment of the toe. Which CPT^® code should we report for this procedure?

Wisconsin Subscriber

Answer: You should report 28313 (Reconstruction, angular deformity of toe, soft tissue procedures only (eg, overlapping second toe, fifth toe, curly toes)) for this procedure. When the podiatrist performs this service, he surgically corrects an angular deformity of the toe, like curly toes, by releasing the tight soft tissues and by transferring the muscle tendons. The entire surgical procedure involves work on soft tissues without any cutting of the bone.

Curly toes defined: When a patient has curly toes, his toes are bent downward or sideways toward the sole of the foot.