Destructions
Destructons: In a nutshell
- Destruction involves the ablation of the lesion(s) with curettage, electrosurgery, cryosurgery, laser treatment, or chemical treatment.
- There are separate code categories for destruction of benign, premalignant lesions, malignant lesions, skin tag(s), and cutaneous vascular proliferative lesions.
- Coding rules vary within these categories.
Within the destruction code sets, there are separate codes for each of the categories: benign, premalignant, malignant, skin tags, and cutaneous vascular proliferative. But there are special rules when it comes to destruction of benign lesions.
Benign lesions
Do not use either of these codes for skin tags or cutaneous vascular proliferative lesions.
| CPT Code | Defined by number of lesions | Coding rule |
|---|---|---|
17110 |
Destruction of up to 14 benign lesions |
Report either 17110 or 17111 based on the total number of lesions destroyed |
17111 |
Destruction of 15 or more lesions |
Skin tags
Use the following codes to report the destruction of skin tags. These codes are also used to report other methods of treating skin tags such as strangulation, scissoring or other sharp blade, or any combination of these methods.
CPT Code | Defined by number of lesions | Coding rule |
|---|---|---|
11200 |
First 15 lesions |
Report 11200 for the first 15 skin tags and 11201 for each additional 1-10, tags removed. |
+11201 |
Additional lesions beyond the 15th, (up to 10 additional skin tags) |
Codes identified with the (+) symbol cannot be reported alone. Report this code in addition to its primary code.
Did you remove more than 25 skin tags? Report tags 26 up to 35 with an additional unit of 11201.
Cutaneous vascular proliferative lesions
Be sure to document the size of the lesion or lesions destroyed in square centimeters.
| CPT Code | Defined by square centimeters | Coding rule |
|---|---|---|
17106 |
Less than 10 sq. cm |
Report a single code is reported determined by the total square centimeters treated, not the number of lesions. |
17107 |
10.0 to 50.0 sq. cm |
|
17108 |
Over 50.0 sq. cm |
Premalignant lesions
These codes are used to report destruction of premalignant lesions, typically actinic keratosis.
| CPT Code | Defined by the number of lesions | Coding rule |
|---|---|---|
|
17000 |
First lesion |
Report for a single lesion or for the first lesion when up to 14 lesions are treated |
|
+17003 |
2nd through the 14 lesions, each lesion |
Report for each lesion after the first up to 14 lesions |
|
17004 |
15 or more lesions |
Report this code alone when 15 or more lesions are treated. Do not report with 17000 and 17003. |
Codes identified with the (+) symbol cannot be reported alone. Report this code in addition to its primary code.
Malignant lesions
Code choices for destructions of malignant lesions add an additional defining concept, namely anatomic location.
Lesions of the trunk, arms, or legs
| CPT Code | Defined by the lesion diameter | Coding rule |
|---|---|---|
17260 |
0.5 cm or less |
Each code represents a single lesion, do not add the diameter of multiple lesions together. Report a separate code for each lesion treated during the encounter. Modifier 59 should be appended to each additional lesion destroyed. |
17261 |
0.6 to 1.0 cm |
|
17262 |
1.1 to 2.0 cm |
|
17263 |
2.1 to 3.0 cm |
|
17264 |
3.1 to 4.0 cm |
|
17266 |
Over 4.0 cm |
Lesions of the scalp, neck, hands, feet, or genitalia
| CPT Code | Defined by the lesion diameter | Coding rule |
|---|---|---|
17270 |
0.5 cm or less |
Each code represents a single lesion, do not add the diameter of multiple lesions together. Report a separate code for each lesion treated during the encounter. Modifier 59 should be appended to each additional lesion destroyed. |
17271 |
0.6 to 1.0 cm |
|
17272 |
1.1 to 2.0 cm |
|
17273 |
2.1 to 3.0 cm |
|
17274 |
3.1 to 4.0 cm |
|
17276 |
Over 4.0 cm |
Lesions of the face, ears, eyelids, nose, lips,or mucous membrane
| CPT Code | Defined by the lesion diameter | Coding rule |
|---|---|---|
17280 |
0.5 cm or less |
Each code represents a single lesion, do not add the diameter of multiple lesions together. Report a separate code for each lesion treated during the encounter. Modifier 59 should be appended to each additional lesion destroyed. |
17281 |
0.6 to 1.0 cm |
|
17282 |
1.1 to 2.0 cm |
|
17283 |
2.1 to 3.0 cm |
|
17284 |
3.1 to 4.0 cm |
|
17286 |
Over 4.0 cm |
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