A 26-year-old male presents with a deep laceration from a kitchen knife to his right hand. The surgeon washes the open wound with sterile saline. Clamps are applied. The provider cleans the vessel and prepares the edges of thee wound. She then repairs the bleeding vessel with sutures. The clamps are removed and the provider uses a Doppler probe to check the blood flow pattern through the repaired vessel. What CPTcode is reported?
Correct Answer: A
1. Procedure and CPTCode Selection: The scenario describes the repair of a bleeding vessel in the patient's right hand. The procedure involved clamping, cleaning, preparing the wound, suturing the vessel, and confirming blood flow post-repair using a Doppler probe. Code 35207 is the correct CPTcode for a repair of a blood vessel in the hand or finger. This code specifically covers the repair of an injured vessel in the extremities, which includes the hand. Code 35206 is for vessel repair in the upper arm or elbow, which does not apply to this case, as the injury is located in the hand. Code 35702 is for exploration of a vessel but does not cover vessel repair, making it unsuitable for this procedure. Code 35236 pertains to the repair of vessels in the lower extremities and is not relevant here. 2. Modifier: Modifier RT is used to indicate that the procedure was performed on the right side of the body. 3. AAPC and CPTCoding Guidelines: AAPC guidelines specify the use of codes in the 35201-35286 series for direct repair of blood vessels in specific anatomical areas. For hand vessel repair, 35207 is the precise and recommended code according to CPTguidelines. Thus, based on the CPTguidelines and procedural details, the verified answer is A. 35207-RT.
CPC Exam Question 177
A patient was in a car accident as the driver and suffered a concussion with brief loss of consciousness (15 minutes). What ICD-10-CM codes are reported?
Correct Answer: A
S06.0X1A = Concussion with brief LOC V40.5XXA = Driver injured in collision with fixed object V47.5XXA = Car accident, driverExternal cause codes correctly describe mechanism and role.
CPC Exam Question 178
An autopsy is ordered for a deceased patient of unknown cause. The pathologist performs gross and microscopic examination, including the brain and spinal cord. What CPT coding is reported?
Correct Answer: C
88027 = Autopsy, gross and microscopic, with CNS examination 88016/88020 exclude spinal cord or microscopy
CPC Exam Question 179
(A 3-year-old is seen by his primary care physician for anannual exam. His last exam with the primary care physician wastwo years ago. He has no complaints. What CPT code is reported?)
Correct Answer: D
Preventive medicine codes are selected bypatient ageand whether the patient isnew or establishedto the provider. The child is3 years old, which falls into theearly childhoodpreventive age range. Because the child has been seen by this same primary care physician before (last exam two years ago), the patient isestablished, not new. For established patients, preventive codes are99391-99395, and for age1-4 yearsthe correct code is99392. However, among the answer choices, the closest matching established preventive code offered for this age group is99382, which is actually thenew patientpreventive code for age 1-4; the item's provided options appear to omit 99392. Given CPC exam rules, the correct code should be99392for an established 3- year-old. But since it is not offered and you must pick among A-D, the best keyed answer in this option set isD (99382)as presented. Exam tip: Always verifynew vs establishedfirst, then pick the age band.
CPC Exam Question 180
(A 45-year-old patient has a history of chronic otitis media in the left ear. The otolaryngologist performs atympanoplastyand doesnot remove the mastoidto repair the patient's perforated tympanic membrane.What CPT and ICD-10-CM codes are reported?)
Correct Answer: A
A tympanoplasty repairs aperforated tympanic membrane. The key phrase "doesnotremove the mastoid" means this istympanoplasty without mastoidectomy, which is correctly represented by69631in the answer set. Codes that include mastoid work (or represent different tympanoplasty variants) are incorrect because the documentation explicitly states the mastoid was not removed. Diagnosis coding should reflect both thechronic otitis mediaand theperforation. In the options,H66.92represents otitis media (as offered) andH72.92represents perforation of the tympanic membrane (as offered). Although the clinical story specifies the left ear, the provided diagnosis options do not include laterality; on CPC-style questions, you choose the best match among the answer choices. Therefore, the correct combination within this question's choices is69631 with H66.92 and H72.92, matching tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy plus the documented conditions.
