tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2010 Issue 3

Reader Question: Keep Flaps Straight for Proper Code Selection

Question: Our surgeon performs an abdominal closure using left and right myofascial advancement flaps. I believe we should code one unit of 15734 because flap codes refer to the recipient area -- not donor site. But the surgeon believes we should code 15734 x 2 because he uses two flaps to perform the defect closure. What is the correct coding? Arkansas SubscriberAnswer: You should not report 15734 (Muscle, myocutaneous, or fasciocutaneous flap; trunk) for this service -- either once or twice. Instead, you should list the procedure using an adjacent tissue transfer code such as 14000 (Adjacent tissue transfer...

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