September 21, 2017

Question:
I did an endoscopic ligation of the left sphenopalatine artery for recurrent epistaxis in a patient with Coumadin-induced coagulopathy. I don’t see a CPT code for this procedure – can I use 30920?

Answer:
No, you’ll need to use an unlisted code such as 30999. Your comparison code can be 30920 (Ligation arteries; internal maxillary artery, transantral). However, using 30920 is not accurate as this code requires a transantral approach (which you didn’t do) and it requires ligation of the internal maxillary artery (which wasn’t done). That said, be on the lookout in 2018 as there may likely be a new CPT code for this procedure. Kim Pollock will be doing a webinar with the 2018 coding updates for ENT as it appears there will be several!

*This response is based on the best information available as of 09/21/17.