Wiki Laminectomy

deickbush

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Can anyone clarify for me how much of the lamina needs to be removed when billing a laminectomy and also for a partial laminectomy. :confused: Thanks!!
 
Can anyone clarify for me how much of the lamina needs to be removed when billing a laminectomy and also for a partial laminectomy. :confused: Thanks!!

I tried to find a good reference for your question, but everything I came across pretty much said the same thing: laminectomy is complete removal; partial laminectomy is removal of only part of the lamina. Here's one article that gave the most thorough explanation; hope it helps! :eek:

http://www.surgery.com/article/hemilaminectomy

Or try googling "laminectomy versus partial laminectomy" for more of the same info.
 
Thanks for the help! I was at a conference last year where they went in to a little more detail as to "how much" needed to be removed in order to bill and unfortunately, I can't find my notes :(
 
Just as an added note, keep in mind that codes 63045, 63046, 63047 and 63048 are unilateral or bilateral so if the lamina is completely removed on one side, (hemilaminectomy), you can still bill the above codes.
 
Lamina

CPT does not specify an exact percentage that needs to be removed. However, the descriptor in the CPT state Hemi,Uni, and Bi. I do not believe there is an exact amount that needs to be removed to qualify for coding.
 
You may be confusing 63081 vertebrectomy codes in which 50% of the vertebrae must be removed in order to bill.
 
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