Anna Weaver
Guest
I have an ortho physician who feels he should be charging 23420. Would like some opinions on this please.
Rotator Cuff Tear, left shoulder.
Chronic imipingement syndrome, left shoulder.
The patient was put in the supine position under general anesthesia and then she was changed to a beach chair position. After preparation and drape of the left shoulder and left arm, an incision was made extending from the edge of the acromion toward the coracoid. The deltoid was split between the medial and lateral head and the split was less than 2 cm, a retention suture was placed at the base of the split so the muscle does not split any further inadvertently.
The rotator cuff was inspected. The only tear that we noticed was close to the bicipital groove, the edge of the tear was freshened. The biceps tendon-itself looked very good and teh joint was irrigated. No other partial tear was noted by probing underneath teh rotator cuff. At this time, the tear was repaired primarily with nonabsorbable suture. The shoulder was taken to full range of motion with no evidence of impingement or disturbance in the repair. Copious irrigation with Bacitracin irrigation solution and closure layer by layer was performed. She was placed in an arm sling. She tolerated the anesthesia and procedure very well and left the room in stable condition. There were no complications throughout this procedure.
I feel this is more along the lines of 23415 instead of 23420.
CPT assistant Feb 2002 page 11 states Code 23420 describes a repair of a complete shoulder (rotator) cuff avulsion, referring to the repair of all three major muscles/tendons of the shoulder cuff.
Have had another coder here look at this also and she agree's it's not a 23420, but unsure if 23415 covers it, but would appreciate any opinions please.
Rotator Cuff Tear, left shoulder.
Chronic imipingement syndrome, left shoulder.
The patient was put in the supine position under general anesthesia and then she was changed to a beach chair position. After preparation and drape of the left shoulder and left arm, an incision was made extending from the edge of the acromion toward the coracoid. The deltoid was split between the medial and lateral head and the split was less than 2 cm, a retention suture was placed at the base of the split so the muscle does not split any further inadvertently.
The rotator cuff was inspected. The only tear that we noticed was close to the bicipital groove, the edge of the tear was freshened. The biceps tendon-itself looked very good and teh joint was irrigated. No other partial tear was noted by probing underneath teh rotator cuff. At this time, the tear was repaired primarily with nonabsorbable suture. The shoulder was taken to full range of motion with no evidence of impingement or disturbance in the repair. Copious irrigation with Bacitracin irrigation solution and closure layer by layer was performed. She was placed in an arm sling. She tolerated the anesthesia and procedure very well and left the room in stable condition. There were no complications throughout this procedure.
I feel this is more along the lines of 23415 instead of 23420.
CPT assistant Feb 2002 page 11 states Code 23420 describes a repair of a complete shoulder (rotator) cuff avulsion, referring to the repair of all three major muscles/tendons of the shoulder cuff.
Have had another coder here look at this also and she agree's it's not a 23420, but unsure if 23415 covers it, but would appreciate any opinions please.
