Wiki Attempted Nephrostomy

Jim Pawloski

True Blue
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A patient was admitted for sepsis, and a request was made for bilateral nephrostomy. Using ultrasound guidance, a 22 g chiba was used to access the collecting system. Unfortunately, the was no hydronephrosis and after a few attempts, the case was canceled. In a discussion with a fellow coder, that coder wanted to code 50432-52, and I said it should be coded 50430-52 because 50432 needs a catheter and no catheter is documented in the report. The coder came back with no contrast was injected which is part of 50430. How should this case be coded?

Thanks,
Jim Pawloski, CIRCC
 
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