Wiki Excision of Mass - Path shows ganglion cyst

[kevans0409]

I have a physician who performed an excision of a soft tissue mass of the knee. The physician listed 27339 (Excision, tumor, soft tissue of thigh or knee area, subfascial (eg, itramuscular); 5 cm or greater. The pathology report come back showing this to be a ganglion cyst with hematoma. My thoughts are that we should change the 27339 to a 27347 (Excision of lesion of meniscus or capsule (eg, cyst, ganglion), knee.

 

[Orthocoderpgu]

I agree with you. Most of the time in ortho coding the CPT is based on the procedure being performed. However, there are times that the code is based on the diagnosis and this is one of them. I see this with my hand surgeons frequently. If they excise a mass but the path report shows it to be a cyst, the CPT changes. Keep in mind your diagnosis code is going to change too. You would not want to submit a cpt for mass removal with a cyst diagnosis as the codes don't agree. Your correct.