Hi,
Can someone let me know the correct way to code this. The doctor went deep into the axilla to remove a large mass, in whcih he stated resembled a large lymph node. The path report later confimed "lymph node with melanoma". Myself and another coder was having a discussion as to whether what would be the appropriate code. 172.5 vs 202.94? I originally coded this as 172.5 with 785.6, but since the pathologist did not go into detail regarding the lymph node ( inflammed or enlarged), I figured I should leave off the 785.6 and code 172.5 or 202.94. The reason why I am debating 202.94 is because the instructions in the Icd-9 book under melanoma says " internal sites should be coded to malignant neoplasm of those sites", which leads us to 202.94, because the lymph node was deep under the skin into the lymph node. Thanks in advance!
Can someone let me know the correct way to code this. The doctor went deep into the axilla to remove a large mass, in whcih he stated resembled a large lymph node. The path report later confimed "lymph node with melanoma". Myself and another coder was having a discussion as to whether what would be the appropriate code. 172.5 vs 202.94? I originally coded this as 172.5 with 785.6, but since the pathologist did not go into detail regarding the lymph node ( inflammed or enlarged), I figured I should leave off the 785.6 and code 172.5 or 202.94. The reason why I am debating 202.94 is because the instructions in the Icd-9 book under melanoma says " internal sites should be coded to malignant neoplasm of those sites", which leads us to 202.94, because the lymph node was deep under the skin into the lymph node. Thanks in advance!