Wiki 20680 for suture?

[lenamarie73]

Hi All,
I have a question regarding 20680.

Patient had previous arthroscopic labral repair. Surgeon is now going in to perform a biceps tenodesis on same shoulder. While he is in the shoulder he removes a suture from previous repair and he would like to bill 20680 for that suture removal. Is this acceptable? Is a suture considered "hardware"?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
LT

 

[Camleiben]

Suture removal under anesthesia is 15850 if they were placed by the same surgeon, or 15851 if placed by a different surgeon.

However, unless it's medically necessary to remove them under anesthesia (i.e. he only did it that way while doing the second surgery), suture removal is usually included in the global package for the original procedure.

Hope this helps!
-Cameron