Ask Dr. Z

I believe this guidance to be incorrect. Can you please clarify if 75625 should be reported? The celiac “trunk” is a small portion of artery that arises off the aorta. If the IR physician has accessed the right common femoral artery, taken the catheter to the aorta, aortogram done, then selected the celiac trunk only and released dye, the code assigned is 36245, as this is the first branch off of the aorta (75726 S&I). Notice that the coder does not assign a code for the catheter in the aorta (36200), even though the IR MD may have stopped and done an aortogram in the area. This is because a “selective” catherization always includes the “non-selective” catheterization before it. However, 75625 would be assigned for the S&I for aortogram.