Wiki knee surg question

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paula f3

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Hello fellow coders,
Just wondering if Im coding this op report correct.
After informed consent was obtained, the pt was brought to the operating room and placed in the supine postion on the operating table where anesthesia was obtained. His right knee was prepped and draped in the usual sterile fashion with a well padded tourniquet on his right upper thigh. Incisions were made inferomedially and inferolaterally through which the knee was examined. There was noted to be a large amount of medial chondromalacia. I therefore, elected not to carry out ACL reconstruction. Laterally there was a meniscal tear, which was repaired using a standard inside-out technique. The medial side was also debrided and then microfracture was carried out on the medial femoral condyle. The wounds were irrigated with normal saline and closed using Monocryl sutures in an interrupted technique.

Question is , would it be appropriate to code 29881, 29882-59 and 29879
from my understanding , correct me if I'm in error, meniscal repair was in the
lateral compartment, menisectomy was done in the medial compartment with microfracture in the medial compartment.
Thanks for your help.

Paula
 
maybe i am missing something but why would you not charge the 29881 since it was done on the medial side and the 29882 was done on the lateral side?
 
that was my question, Im thinking being that it was on the lateral side, is this approprate to bill?

Paula
 
Paula, I had the same thing this morning, and I billed 29881 and 29882-59. I am sure you can add 29879 to the mix too.
 
Paula, I agree with your coding on this. You will have to have the 59 modifier to indicate the different compartment for the 29881. It may be beneficial to send the op note with the claim if possible as well.
 
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