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 2020. The coding advice may or may not be outdated.

Is it appropriate to bill 35656 and 34203 same leg?

Date: Jul 27, 2020

Question:

For the following, is it appropriate to bill 35656 and 34203 same leg? "At this time the patient's left leg was positioned, and a longitudinal incision was made on the medial distal thigh. Dissection was carried down through the subcutaneous tissue, and the popliteal space was entered. Moderate edema it was identified. The popliteal artery was ultimately dissected free, and vessel loops were placed. No definite pulse was noted in the artery. A longitudinal arteriotomy was created and minimal flow was noted, contrary to the patient's angiography of one week ago. Only a mild-to-moderate degree of plaque was actually appreciated; however, a #4 Fogarty catheter was passed distally into the leg in order to perform a thrombectomy. Only a small amount of plaque was retrieved and removed from the popliteal artery just below the arteriotomy, but no thrombus was ultimately identified after multiple passes of the Fogarty catheter. The arteriotomy was opened to approximately 15 mm to allow for a bypass. A tunneling device was used to tunnel a 6 mm Maquet woven graft to the left femoral area."

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!