Wiki Shave excision vs. Destruction of lesion

[Cjones316]

Patient has a lesion removed off of the cheek and sent off for pathology. Diagnosis comes back to be Basal Cell Carcinoma. The diameter is 1.5 cm. The office notes state that a shave excision was performed. Would you code 17282 or 11312 with a diagnosis of 173.31?

Thanks in advance

 

[mitchellde]

The phrase shave excision is a procedure that does not exist. It is either a shave or an excision. A shave goes into the dermal layer but not through it, an excision is through the dermal layer and to or into the subq layer.