tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2023 Issue Q4

Reader Questions: Distinguish Foreign Body Removal Codes

Question: A patient presents two weeks after receiving two deep wounds in his upper arm from an exploding propane tank. The patient reports having removed the debris himself, and the wounds are now healed, but one is painful. The surgeon creates an incision and explores the wound. Finding the debris, the surgeon removes a piece of metal from the deep, intramuscular tissue, then cleans and closes the wound. How should we code this? Virginia Subscriber Answer: The correct code for this service is 23333 (Removal of foreign body, shoulder; deep (subfascial or intramuscular)). This code aligns with the anatomic...

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