Practice Quiz

Medical Coding

Category - 20,000 Series

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A 24-year-old college football player injured his knee during practice. The MRI shows a torn medial and lateral meniscus. The orthopedist reviewed the films and decides to proceed with an arthroscopy with meniscectomy to remove the torn pieces of the meniscus from the knee. What is the best code for this procedure?
  1. 29879
  2. 29880
  3. 29881
  4. 29882
  5. 29883
Explanation
Answer: B - 29880 is the correct code because this football player tore both his medial and lateral meniscus and the procedure was meant to clean up both sides of his knee.
Code 29879 is incorrect because this code is used for an arthroplasty instead of an arthroscopy which is what this patient had done. . Code 29881 is for one side or the other, not both medial and lateral meniscus. Codes 29882 and 29883 are both codes for repairing the meniscus, which in this football players case, was not an option because both were completely torn.
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