Elective Cranioplasty after Emergent Hemicraniectomy

Question:

I did an emergency craniectomy on a stroke patient 4 months ago. It is now time to reconstruct the defect and I’ll be doing that by placing some mesh and screws with Methyl methacrylate. Should I be using the 62140/62141 code series?

Answer:

Actually, CPT considers what you are doing to be “Replacement of bone flap or prosthetic plate of skull” which is 62143. You would still use 62143 even if you reconstructed the defect with the patient’s own bone flap that was stored at the bone bank or with an alloplastic implant designed for the patient.

*This response is based on the best information available as of 10/15/20.