Please note this question was answered in 2014. The coding advice may or may not be outdated.
Atherectomy with Thrombectomy
Date: Oct 24, 2014
Question:
Would there ever be a circumstance in which suction thrombectomy and atherectomy could be performed together? Physician insisting that suction thrombectomy of CFA, SFA, popliteal, and anterior tibial was performed after atherectomy "with removal of debris" after an SFA atherectomy. My understanding is if thrombectomy is performed (even with different device) it is part of the atherectomy itself unless there is a distal thrombus being treated in an entirely different vessel. Is there some source documentation I can supply to the physician to indicate we cannot bill a separate thrombectomy?
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