Wiki Pectoral,deltoid,biceps,triceps fasciotomy

[smsmith]

This one has me stumped....the diagnosis is compartment syndrome, upper extremity.

"Left pectoral fasciotomy, left deltoid fasciotomy, fasciotomy of the left upper arm including biceps and triceps"

I am used to lower extremity decompression fasciotomy, and forearm fasciotomy, but I can't find a CPT code for upper arm...any suggestions?


Susie Smith, CPC

 

[preserene]

It involves most of the muscles of the shoulder region . i would lean for 23406 More of tenomyotomy tahn the typical faciotomy

 

[smsmith]

Thanks! I code for general surgery and this was a bit out of my knowledge zone.

 

[BLumetta]

If the provider documented "fasciotomy" we'd have to find a CPT describing that procedure. 23406 is for Tenotomy, shoulder area; multiple tendons through same incision, which doesn't address what the provider is doing. If we look at 23930-24006 Incision Procedures on the Humerus (Upper Arm) and Elbow we see there isn't a current CPT code for that fasciotomy of the bicep and triceps. Since we shouldn't code to "something similar," it points to an unlisted code, right? I'd code this one 24999 with a comparable code from the 25020-25025 range, depending on the number of compartments released and whether debridement was also performed or not.