Summary & Overview
CPT 01952: Anesthesia for Burn Excision/Debridement, 4–9% TBSA
CPT 01952 designates anesthesia care for excision or debridement of second- and third‑degree burns when 4–9% of total body surface area (TBSA) is treated without skin grafting. This code is used in facility-based anesthesiology contexts, primarily in hospital inpatient and outpatient surgical settings, and captures the anesthetic complexity associated with burn wound management that does not include grafting procedures. Nationally, accurate coding for burn excision/debridement cases affects clinical documentation, facility billing workflows, and payer adjudication because TBSA thresholds determine appropriate code selection and bundling with related services.
Key payers covered in this overview include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, and UnitedHealthcare. Readers will find a concise explanation of what CPT 01952 represents, how it fits into anesthesiology service delivery, and how it relates to adjacent codes for smaller or additional TBSA levels. The publication also outlines relevant clinical context for burn debridement without grafting, common sites of service, and operational considerations for facility-based billing. If supplementary metadata for service lines or payer-specific policy language is required, note that some service line metadata is not provided in the input. Data not available in the input.
CPT Code Overview
CPT 01952 describes anesthesia for second- and third‑degree burn excision or debridement without skin grafting when a total body surface area (TBSA) of 4–9 percent is treated during the anesthesia and surgery. The procedure falls under the Anesthesiology service line and is delivered in a facility-based environment. Typical sites of service include hospital inpatient and hospital outpatient surgical settings where operative management of partial- and full-thickness burns occurs.
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A middle-aged patient presents to a hospital-based operating room for surgical excision and debridement of second- and third-degree burns involving multiple body regions. The anesthesia team documents total body surface area (TBSA) treated during the procedure as 4–9 percent and provides general anesthetic care for excision and debridement without skin grafting. The workflow includes preoperative assessment in the hospital or outpatient surgical setting, anesthesia induction and intraoperative management tailored to burn physiology (airway, fluid status, and pain control), surgical excision/debridement of the affected areas, and postoperative handoff to recovery or the inpatient burn service for monitoring and wound care planning.
Coding Specifications
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Modifiers:
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QS— Monitored anesthesia care service. Use when anesthesia services provided meet monitored anesthesia care (MAC) definitions for the case. -
P1— A normal healthy patient. Use to indicate the patient’s physical status classification when appropriate documentation supports ASA P1. -
Provider Taxonomies:
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207L00000X— Anesthesiology: Physicians specializing in anesthetic management of surgical patients. -
207LP2900X— : Anesthesiologists with focus on pediatric patients.