Question

Paul Bunyan presents to the emergency department after accidentally cutting his upper thigh with a chainsaw, resulting in an injury to his common femoral artery. Mr. Bunyan is taken to the operating room, where a surgeon does a direct repair of the blood vessel (femoral artery). The surgeon also performs a 7.5-centimeter complex repair of his leg (with no tendon involvement) after repairing the artery. Code this scenario, making sure to code the two procedures separately . . . and don't forget the E-code!

Answer 1

Paul Bunyan's injury required surgical repair of the femoral artery and leg, which involves coding for the direct and complex repairs plus the E-code.

Step-by-step explanation:

The scenario described involves a surgical procedure performed on Paul Bunyan, for an injury that affected the femoral artery. The femoral artery is a continuation of the external iliac artery after it passes through the body cavity and provides vital blood supply to the lower limbs. It gives off several branches including the lateral deep femoral artery, genicular artery, and eventually becomes the popliteal artery behind the knee. In coding this scenario for a medical record, one would need to use appropriate CPT codes for the repair of the femoral artery as well as for the complex repair of the leg. Additionally, an 'E-code' (External Cause of Injury Code) would be used to specify the cause of injury, which in this case might relate to an accident involving a chainsaw.