Ask Dr. Z

Ask Dr. Z Knowledge Base houses over 7,500 coding questions and answers dating back to 2013.

Ask Dr. Z Disclaimer

Please note this question was answered in 2018. The coding advice may or may not be outdated.

Needle and Catheter Aspiration Pleura

Date: Feb 26, 2018

Question:

Patient had a microwave ablation on the left lung. Post ablation showed a posterior pneumothorax that was drained by a needle and an anterior-lateral pneumothorax drained with catheter placement. Is the pleural space considered one surgical field and code for the catheter placement (32557) along with the ablation? Or do we code for both the needle aspiration (32555-59) and the catheter placement?

Sign up for a membership to view the answer to this question.

Need to ask Dr.Z?

Don't see the answer you're looking for in the knowledge base? No problem. You can ask Dr. Z directly!
Ask Dr. Z a question now!