Question:
We have a patient who had a severe crush injury of the left hand which led to a comminuted fracture of the left 3rd and 5th metacarpals with an intra-articular fracture of the proximal phalanx of the left index finger.  The physician’s documentation indicates the following:

• There was also a soft tissue defect over the left proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint of the middle finger.  After taking samples for culture, the wounds were meticulously débrided and curetted.
• Bony structures were evident over the 3rd metacarpal as well as on the PIP of the middle finger where the defect was about 3-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches. The area of the dorsum of the PIP joint of the left middle finger was about ¾ inch x ¾ inch.
• Debridement and irrigation was done using 6 liters of saline with the gravity Patzakis technique and 1 liter of antibiotic.
• After the wound was washed, X-rays were taken to confirm the fractures though no attempt was made to reduce any fractures because of the severe contamination.  A wound-VAC was planned for the dorsum of the left hand at the PIP joint of the left small finger.

Would I report 11043 and 97605 with ICD-9 682.4 and 681.00?

-North Carolina Subscriber

Answer:
The correct codes in this situation would be 11010 (Debridement including removal of foreign material at the site of an open fracture and/or an open dislocation (eg, excisional debridement); skin and
subcutaneous tissues), 11011 (Debridement including removal of foreign material at the site of an open fracture and/or an open dislocation (eg, excisional debridement); skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscle fascia, and muscle), or 11012 (Debridement including removal of foreign material at the site of an open fracture and/or an open dislocation (e.g., excisional debridement); skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscle fascia, muscle, and...

Tactics help you recoup deserved pay for 24357-24359.
Tennis elbow claims faults can wreak havoc on your reimbursement for these services.  But you can clean up your method if you can spot in the note how the surgeon reached the elbow tendon and whether the tendon was released or repaired.  By doing so, you stand to gain your full earned pay for codes 24357, 24358, and 24359, which is $437.27, $514.74, and $647.59, respectively.
Review Structures Treated
When you are confident in your elbow anatomy knowledge, you’ll have a better chance of understanding where the operative note is directing you.   The codes are simple and can easily be applied if you are reading correctly. “Coding these procedures became much easier when CPT condensed the codes from the previous five down to the current three,” confirms Heidi Stout, BA, CPC, COSC, PCS, CCS-P, Coder on Call, Inc., Milltown, New Jersey and orthopedic coding division director, The Coding Network, LLC, Beverly Hills, CA.  The bones, –humerus above and the radius and ulna below– articulate in a manner to allow 180 degrees of movement that helps you use the upper limb for various functions.

The numerous muscles that originate and insert around the joint allow movement; particularly important is the bundle of extensors including the muscle extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) that originates at the lateral epicondyle which is the lateral prominence of the humerus at the elbow joint.  Repeated back movements of the wrist joint, as seen when playing tennis, can cause small micro tears in the tendon of origin and result in inflammation known as lateral epicondylitis or ‘tennis elbow.’ The term is highly deceptive, though; the condition affects non-athletes as well, and is not solely confined to tennis players. As the pathology progresses, the damaged tendon(s) may rupture and...