Ask Dr. Z

"A 10 French drain was introduced into the hematoma using Seldinger technique. 175 ml of liquid was removed. It was irrigated. It was then instilled with 10 mg of Retavase and allowed to dwell for 30 minutes. We were able to get an additional 50 ml on top of 50 ml of Retavase. At this point, it was still noted to be semisolid and clotted. The drain was removed. We will give the patient a trial of one week and try to repeat aspirating in one week's time to see if we can get additional fluid off, but it is still predominantly clotted at this time." The patient did receive Retavase a week later, and another treatment was performed shortly after that. Could you provide some suggestions on how this should be coded? I can see billing 10160 for the catheter placement. I am stumped on how to bill for the thrombolysis. If I need to bill unlisted, what would be the best code to compare this to?