We attended an MRA training workshop and we were told that once a patient with an AAA has had surgery, we cannot code the aneurysm. We’re very confused! Is this correct?

Q:	We attended an MRA training workshop and we were told that once a patient with an AAA has had surgery, we cannot code the aneurysm. We’re very confused! Is this correct?

A:	It depends. (Don’t you just hate those answers?!) When an AAA is resected, the bulging section of the vessel is removed. After surgery, if the patient were to undergo an abdominal ultrasound, there will be no evidence of the aneurysm. An endovascular repair, on the other hand, entails the insertion of a little tube to keep the artery stable. Most of the time, on a repeat ultrasound, the AAA is evident and the physician checks to make sure there are no leaks in the repair. If the AAA is measurable and evident, then it may still be code-able with a risk adjusted ICD-9-code. The physician’s documentation is the determining factor. This answer was updated for ICD-10-CM. Read here. Tagged: AAA, endovascular, ICD-9, MRA