Please note this question was answered in 2020. The coding advice may or may not be outdated.
Thromboendarterectomy for Veins
Question:
The thromboendarterectomy codes indicate for the arteries only, and there appear to be no specific codes for the veins. How would you code for a venous endarterectomy with patch graft (femoral vein)? Part of operative note: "The vein was incised with a 15 blade. A Freer elevator was used to mobilize the stent circumferentially. On the medial side, there was an easy endarterectomy plane; however, on the medial side, the vein was extremely friable and began to fall apart. With this transected, the stent, used the pliers to remove part of the stent in a piecemeal fashion. The majority of the stent was removed, and some of it was left on the lateral side proximally. We then cut a bovine pericardial vein patch to size and sewed it to the artery using a running 6-0 Prolene suture."
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