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Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

Reader Questions:

Severity Guides Tendon Tear Coding

Published on Fri May 21, 2010

Question: Our podiatrist completed a reconstruction of a posterior tendon tear. What procedure and diagnosis codes are best for the surgery?Kansas SubscriberAnswer: Choose 27658 (Repair, flexor tendon, leg; primary, without graft, each tendon) or 27659 (... secondary, with or without graft, each tendon) for the procedure, depending on whether you're coding a primary or secondary repair.Then select your diagnosis based on whether the rupture was traumatic or nontraumatic: 727.68 (Rupture of tendon, nontraumatic; other tendons of foot and ankle) or 845.00 (Sprains and strains of ankle and foot; unspecified site).
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