Question: I treated a patient in the emergency department, who hit his eye with needle-nose pliers. The exam revealed a conjunctival laceration. I carefully removed four eyelashes from under the conjunctiva and checked to see if there was a ruptured globe. How should I submit this?

Answer: Look at CPT codes 65270 Repair of laceration; conjunctiva, with or without nonperforating laceration sclera, direct closure and 65272 Repair of laceration; conjunctiva, by mobilization and rearrangement, without hospitalization to determine which is appropriate based on operative report. Neither code is bundled with 65210 Removal of foreign body, external eye; conjunctival embedded (includes concretions), subconjunctival, or scleral nonperforating.

CPT code 65270 is considered a minor procedure, where 65272 is a major procedure. This will be useful in determining if you can separately bill for the exam and whether to use modifier -25 or -57. Use the appropriate ED codes (99281-99285) and place of service 23.

Learn more about surgical codes in Coding Coach: Complete Ophthalmic Coding Reference.