Created Jun 2016
Reviewed Dec 2019
Query
What procedure code should be assigned for a patient who previously had a right below knee amputation (BKA) and is admitted to have right above knee amputation (AKA) (redo of previous BKA) due to ischaemic non-healing and infected right BKA stump?
Suggestions:
44367-00 [1484] Amputation above knee
Or
44376-00 [1566] Reamputation of amputation stump
Response
The NZCA was provided with the operation note for this case. The operation title was ‘Reamputation of previous right BKA stump, AKA’. What was described in the operation note was an above knee amputation (AKA). This procedure (previous BKA proceeding to AKA) has been confirmed by a vascular surgeon as a new amputation, as the amputation (AKA) is at a new level.
A reamputation of an amputation stump involves cutting away small amounts of bone and soft tissue to tidy up the amputation stump at the same level.