Wiki sublux patella Help

[Alta]

arthroscopic lateral release, medial plica excision. This didn't quite fix the tilt, so he then did an OPEN medial reeefing of the medial retinacular tissues of the knee.

Can I code the arthroscopic lateral release as well as the median retinacular tissue 29873 and 27422?

Arthroscopic: there was a medial plica, a medial portal was made and this was excised with a small shaver. Lateral release was carried out arthroscopically.

Open: a 4 cm linear incision was made at the medial aspect of the patella. The medial retinacular tissue was identified. It was incised not through the synovium and mobilized in a pants over vest fashion and the medial retinacular tissue was advanced proximal medial with several mattress sutures.

thank you!

 

[mbort]

arthroscopic lateral release, medial plica excision. This didn't quite fix the tilt, so he then did an OPEN medial reeefing of the medial retinacular tissues of the knee.

Can I code the arthroscopic lateral release as well as the median retinacular tissue 29873 and 27422?

Arthroscopic: there was a medial plica, a medial portal was made and this was excised with a small shaver. Lateral release was carried out arthroscopically.

Open: a 4 cm linear incision was made at the medial aspect of the patella. The medial retinacular tissue was identified. It was incised not through the synovium and mobilized in a pants over vest fashion and the medial retinacular tissue was advanced proximal medial with several mattress sutures.

thank you!

Since you are dealing with two seperate locations (medial and lateral), I think you should be okay. I didnt check but I am assuming that these codes will bundle and you will need the 59 modifier. Depending on the carrier you may end up fighting for this one, but as long as the documenation strongly supports both medial and lateral, you should be good to go.

Mary, CPC, COSC