Wiki Tracheostomy

[dpumford]

A patient had a CABG & Mitral Valve replaced.. two weeks later patient still unable to be weaned off the ventilator.....so a tracheostomy was done by the same surgeon.

My question is would you use mod 78 or 79? My 1st thought is mod 78 because he would not be on the vent if it was not for the surgery...but I also was told they thought 79 would be ok because surgery has nothing to do, anatomically, to the surgery.

I might be thinking to hard on this but would love to know some other thoughts on this?

Thank you in advance~

 

[jewlz0879]

A patient had a CABG & Mitral Valve replaced.. two weeks later patient still unable to be weaned off the ventilator.....so a tracheostomy was done by the same surgeon.

My question is would you use mod 78 or 79? My 1st thought is mod 78 because he would not be on the vent if it was not for the surgery...but I also was told they thought 79 would be ok because surgery has nothing to do, anatomically, to the surgery.

I might be thinking to hard on this but would love to know some other thoughts on this?

Thank you in advance~

I would use 78. I don't think 'anatomically' has anything to do with what modifier you choose. I would use 79 if say the patient has a CABG today, and then 1 month later had a fundoplasty. But in this case, while the vent is not directly related to the CABG, it is an indirect relation, in my opinion. I could be wrong but this is how I approach these two modifiers.

 

[dpumford]

Thanks! That was my thought but wanted to hear what others thought!