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Coding foreign body
Can someone help me code foreign body of the left calf? My physician has coded 29888. I feel the code should be 10120, 11042. Documentation is below...thanks for your help!
The patinet is a 44 yr old male who suffered a work related injury about a week ago. He was using a hammer and a chisel on a relative dirty surface. The chisel fragmented and functioned as a projectile and imbedded in his left calf. It was a relatively small fragment. However, he did develop an infection and it was for this reason, I recommended removal of this foreign body. He went to the CT suite earlier today for needle localization and was then taken to the OR. The patient was bought to the OR placed on the table in the supine position. After adequate general anesthesia was obtained, the lower left extremity was prepped and drapped in the usual fashion. The needle from the needle localized was identified, and I made a 4cm incision both proximal and distal to the needle. I then incised the fascia overlying the gastrocnemius, then very gently dissected through the gastrocnemius bluntly along the course of the needle. Utimately, I was able to identify the location where the fragment was located. Using the image intensifier as well as the path of the needle, I identified the foreign body. The foreign body was then removed and the surrounding soft tissue was debrided very thoroughly.
re: Coding foreign body
The codes you are suggesting are found in the skin section and he was in the muscle. Knowing this I would would first look in the musculoskeletal section. Take a look at 20520 or 20525.
re: Coding foreign body
Thanks for your reply I will review these codes.