Urology Coding Alert

Question: What are the correct diagnosis codes for a patient who had a spermatocelectomy one day and surgery for a hematoma the next day? Is it appropriate to use the 998.1x series for complications of a procedure that don't occur at the actual time the procedure is being performed? Or will I need to use a code from the 998 series that is more explicitly for postoperative complications? New York Subscriber Answer: Regardless of whether the complication arose at the time of or after the initial procedure, in this case the spermatocelectomy, you should still choose an appropriate code from the 998.1x series to indicate the hematoma. And from the little information you have provided, 998.12, Hematoma complicating a procedure, appears to be the correct choice. If you are coding for a hospital, you need to use an E code, such as E879.x, to indicate that the hematoma was a complication that occurred after the completion of the spermatocelectomy.