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Temporary Arterial Shunt for Vascular Injury

Date: Feb 1, 2018

Question:

We have a stab wound case where our surgeon placed a temporary vascular shunt in the femoral artery to allow flow to the distal leg. Once flow was reinstituted into the patient's leg, our surgeon then called a vascular surgeon (not associated with our practice), who then repaired the artery with a vein graft. Are we allowed to code for the temporary arterial shunt, and, if so, what code would we use for that? The vascular surgeon billed code 35256.

Question ID : 10238
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