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Urology Coding Alert

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Reporting Anesthesia With Cysto Tube Change

Published on Sat Nov 05, 2005

Question: How would I report the replacement of a cystostomy tube under anesthesia for a pediatric patient? Is it possible to receive payment for the additional time it takes the urologist because the patient is anesthetized?


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Answer: You can use one of two codes to report a cystostomy tube change: CPT 51705 (Change of cystostomy tube; simple) or 51710 (... complicated). When the physician must give the patient anesthesia to perform the tube removal and replacement, CPT 51710 is the better choice. This code indicates that the tube change was complicated.

You could consider a cystostomy tube change complicated for several reasons, including patient pain or bleeding when the urologist removes the tube. Your urologist should state any complications or anesthesia use in his documentation to support your use of the complicated code.
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