The physician performed a bilateral tympanostomy with placement of drainage tubes, in a 4 year old male, who required general anesthesia. During the procedure a large abscess was noted on the right external auditory canal. The physician incised and drained the abscess, and placed ventilating tubes in each tympanum. How would you code for the procedure?
Explanation
Answer: A - You would code the procedure with 69436-50 (Tympanostomy: Requiring Insertion of Ventilating Tube, General Anesthesia).You would also use modifier -50, which would indicate that the procedure was performed bilaterally, on each ear. Code 69433 would not be appropriate because it is used for a tympanostomy that was performed under local or topical anesthesia, rather than general anesthesia. Code 69020 (Drainage External Auditory Canal, Abscess) would also need to be reported. Code 11000 would be inappropriate for the drainage of the abscess because it is generally used for the integumentary system, rather than the external ear canal.
