In simple words: During spine surgery, the doctor takes bone marrow from another bone in your body, usually near the spine, through a separate small cut. This marrow is then used like a paste to help the bones in your spine heal.

Bone marrow aspiration (BMA) for bone grafting, specifically during spine surgery, performed through a separate skin or fascial incision. This code is reported in addition to the primary spinal surgery procedure code.The bone marrow is aspirated from a separate site, typically adjacent to the surgical area, using a needle inserted through a small incision. This harvested marrow is then used as a graft during the spinal procedure.

Example 1: A patient undergoes a spinal fusion procedure (e.g., 22630) and requires bone grafting.The surgeon performs a bone marrow aspiration (20939) from the iliac crest through a separate incision to obtain autologous bone marrow for the graft., During a laminectomy (e.g., 22612), the surgeon identifies a bone defect. They perform a bone marrow aspiration (20939) from the tibia to obtain bone marrow for grafting the defect. , A patient with a spinal fracture (e.g., treated with 22319) also needs bone grafting. The surgeon harvests bone marrow from the femur via a separate incision (20939) for use in the grafting procedure.

Documentation should clearly indicate the need for bone grafting during the spine surgery, the separate incision made for the bone marrow aspiration, the location from which the marrow was aspirated (e.g., iliac crest, tibia), and the use of the aspirated marrow in the grafting procedure. The primary spine surgery procedure should also be documented with the appropriate CPT code.