2025 CPT code 15121
(Active) Effective Date: N/A Revision Date: N/A Surgery - Surgical Procedures on the Integumentary System Surgery Feed
Additional split-thickness autograft; each additional 100 sq cm or 1% of body surface area in infants and children.
Modifier 59 may be applicable if the additional graft is performed as a distinct procedural service from the initial graft.Consult the NCCI edits for appropriate modifier use.
Medical necessity for 15121 is established when a split-thickness skin graft is needed to cover a significant burn or wound and the initial graft is insufficient for complete closure. The additional graft must be medically necessary to improve healing, prevent infection, or manage pain.
The clinical responsibility for this procedure involves a surgeon performing the split-thickness skin graft.This includes selecting appropriate donor and recipient sites, harvesting the graft using a dermatome, preparing the recipient site, and applying the graft with appropriate fixation. Post-operative care and monitoring are also included.
In simple words: This code is for extra skin grafts beyond the first one.If a doctor needs to graft more skin onto a burn or wound, they use this code for each additional 100 square centimeters (like a smallish square) of skin or each additional 1% of the child's or infant's body needing a skin graft. This is in addition to the main code for the initial skin graft. The doctor takes a thin layer of skin from another place on the patient's body and puts it on the burn or wound.
This CPT code, 15121, represents an add-on code for a split-thickness skin autograft.It's used to report each additional 100 square centimeters (sq cm) or 1% of the body surface area (BSA) of the graft in infants and children. This code is reported in addition to the primary procedure code for the initial split-thickness autograft.The 100 sq cm measurement applies to adults and children 10 years and older; BSA percentages apply to infants and children younger than 10. The measurement refers to the recipient area. This procedure involves harvesting skin using a dermatome, typically to a depth of 0.01 to 0.015 inches, for transplantation from a donor site to a recipient site (burn or wound) on the same patient.The graft includes both epidermis and dermis, but not the full thickness of the skin.
Example 1: A 25-year-old patient sustains a deep second-degree burn to their right thigh measuring 200 sq cm.The initial autograft is coded using 15120, and the additional 100 sq cm is coded with 15121., A 5-year-old child suffers extensive burns in a house fire, covering approximately 15% of their body. The initial graft would be coded using 15120, with additional 15121 codes used to account for additional graft coverage., An adult patient undergoes a complex wound closure after a traumatic injury to the lower leg requiring multiple split-thickness grafts.The initial autograft would be 15120, with 15121 used for additional areas grafted.
** Always refer to the most up-to-date CPT manual and NCCI edits for the most accurate coding and reimbursement information.This information is current as of December 3, 2024.
- Revenue Code: P1G (Major Procedure - Other)
- RVU: The RVUs for this code will vary based on geographic location and other factors.Consult a fee schedule or pricing tool for specific RVU values and resulting reimbursement rates.
- Payment Status: Active
- Modifier TC rule: Not applicable to this add-on code.
- Fee Schedule: Fee schedules vary considerably over time and by location. Refer to a historical fee schedule database for specific historical fee data.
- Specialties:Plastic Surgery, Burn Surgery, General Surgery
- Place of Service:Inpatient Hospital, Outpatient Hospital, Ambulatory Surgical Center