Wiki Prosthetic Knee Dislocation

[adunlap23]

The patient presents with a dislocated left total knee joint. He is in the aftercare of Left Total Knee revision.

The doctor performs "left knee closed reduction under anesthesia". Would 27552 work for this even though it's a prosthetic joint? And would I append modifier -78 or -79 in this scenario?

-Ashley

 

[amyjph]

Wow that's unusual. Yes, you would because there is no code for this like there is for when a THA dislocates & they reduce (27265-27266). I have never seen this where they do closed reduction instead of revising something loose like the poly liner. Did they fall?
If the patient is in the global for the TKA revision and it was the same knee I would use 78 because it was an unplanned return following initial for a related procedure during the post op.

 

[Orthocoderpgu]

After ten years I have never seen this situation either. Without trauma, the poly is going to be replaced to keep from future dislocations. I would not be surprised to see this patient going to surgery soon. I totally agree with Amy's coding advice.

 

[adunlap23]

Thank you both for your reply. There's always something new popping up! I'm glad I wasn't the only one baffled by this.