2025 CPT code 64885
(Active) Effective Date: N/A Surgery - Surgical Procedures on the Nervous System Surgery Feed
Nerve graft (includes obtaining graft), head or neck; up to 4 cm in length.
Modifiers may apply, such as -22 (Increased Procedural Services) if the service is significantly more complex than typically described by the code, or -59 (Distinct Procedural Service) if distinct from another service performed during the same session.
Medical necessity must be established by documenting the functional impairment caused by the nerve damage and the expected improvement in function with nerve grafting. Documentation must also indicate why less invasive treatments aren't suitable.
The physician performs the harvesting of the nerve graft, prepares the damaged nerve site, and sutures the graft to the transected nerve, ensuring proper tissue protection and no obstruction or compression of the graft.
In simple words: A surgery to repair a damaged nerve in the head or neck using a piece of healthy nerve from another part of the body, typically the leg. This helps restore feeling and movement.
This code describes a procedure where a healthy nerve segment, up to 4cm long, is used to replace a damaged portion of a nerve in the head or neck. The procedure aims to restore sensory and/or motor functions lost due to nerve damage or severance from injury or trauma.A nerve graft is harvested, often from the sural nerve in the leg. The damaged portion of the nerve in the head or neck is then resected, and the donor nerve graft is sutured to the ends of the transected nerve.
Example 1: A patient with a severed facial nerve due to a deep laceration requires a nerve graft to restore function., Following removal of a tumor in the neck, a patient experiences loss of sensation in the shoulder area. A nerve graft procedure is performed using a segment of the sural nerve., A patient with a traumatic injury to the neck resulting in vocal cord paralysis undergoes nerve grafting to improve speech function.
Documentation should include details of the injury or trauma, nerve damage assessment, the source of the nerve graft, the length of the graft used, surgical technique, and post-operative status.
- Revenue Code: P5E (AMBULATORY PROCEDURES - OTHER)
- Specialties:Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery, ENT (Otolaryngology)
- Place of Service:Ambulatory Surgical Center, Hospital Outpatient, Inpatient Hospital