tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2008 Issue 6

Reader Questions: Count Incisions for Multiple Hernia Repairs

Question: Our surgeon performed a laparoscopic recurrent right inguinal hernia repair, a right femoral hernia repair, and a laparoscopic left inguinal hernia repair. May I report all three procedures separately? New Mexico Subscriber Answer: Because the surgeon performed inguinal hernia repairs on opposite sides, you can report these procedures separately. But you must append modifiers LT (Left side) and RT (Right side), as appropriate, to differentiate among the procedures. In this case, you would report the recurrent right inguinal hernia using 49651-RT (Laparoscopy, surgical; repair recurrent inguinal hernia; right side) and the left inguinal hernia repair using 49650-LT (Laparoscopy...

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