A 53-year-old male patient presents to the OR for a planned arthroscopic acetabuloplasty. The physician inserts the scope and visualizes the repair site. Upon visualization, the surgeon determines the acetabuloplasty will require more extensive repair than initially expected. The surgeon removes the arthroscope and makes an arthrotomy into the hip joint. The surgeon completes a cup-type acetabuloplasty and concludes with layered closure of the skin and subcutaneous tissues. How should the coder appropriately report these procedures?
27120 - Acetabuloplasty: (e.g. Whitman, Colonna, Haygroves, or cup type)
29860 - Arthroscopy hip, diagnostic with or without synovial biopsy (separate procedure)

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The surgeon initially performed an arthroscopy of the hip, which is reported with code 29860. However, the surgeon then determined that a more extensive repair was necessary and converted the procedure to an open arthrotomy. The arthrotomy is reported with code 27120. The -59 modifier is appended to code 27120 to indicate that it was performed as a separate procedure from the arthroscopy.

A 53-Year-Old Male Patient Presents to the OR for a Planned