| April 2006 · Vol. 18, No. 4 REIMBURSEMENT ADVISER
Mesh is an internal graft for coding purposesMelanie
Witt,
RN, CPC-OGS, MAIndependent coding and documentation consultant; former program manager, Department of Coding and Nomenclature, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Q In a recent column, you indicated that the CPT code 57295 (revision [including removal] of prosthetic vaginal graft, vaginal approach) could be used to report revision or removal of an eroded vaginal mesh. What ICD-9 codes would be used for this procedure?
A Normally, erosion is reported as a complication of the procedure, even when it occurs after the global period for the procedure. Since the mesh is considered an internal graft, you will look under the code category 996.6x (infection and inflammatory reaction due to internal prosthetic device, implant, and graft) or 996.7x (other complications of internal [biological] [synthetic] prosthetic device, implant, and graft). The code selection will depend on documentation of the problem with the mesh.
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