ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) code group C51R includes procedures performed to introduce radioactive materials for planar nuclear medicine imaging in central veins. These ICD-10-PCS codes are used for inpatient documentation when single plane nuclear medicine images of central veins are obtained by introducing radioactive tracers into the venous system. Accurate coding within the ICD-10-PCS C51R group is essential for proper inpatient reimbursement, as it captures the procedure performed and determines appropriate case mix and payment.

Customize your policy alerts

Sign up for ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview policy alerts

Get alerted when relevant policies change without checking for updates manually.

Monitor payer policy activity

Receive email alerts as soon as relevant payer policies are published or updated.

Central Veins Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging Procedure Overview

Procedures in this group involve introduction of radioactive materials into the central veins to produce single plane images from captured radioactive emissions. These procedures target the veins and are performed under the Nuclear Medicine section of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Procedure Coding System. Accurate coding reflects the specific planar nuclear medicine imaging performed on central veins and supports appropriate inpatient reimbursement and clinical documentation.

Code Attributes

Character	ICD-10-PCS Category	Code Group Details
C	Section	Nuclear Medicine
5	Body System	Veins
1	Operation	Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging
R	Body Part	Central Veins

Explore openpayer tools

View all tools

ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

Customize your policy alerts

Sign up for ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview policy alerts

Get alerted when relevant policies change without checking for updates manually.

Monitor payer policy activity

Receive email alerts as soon as relevant payer policies are published or updated.

Central Veins Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging Procedure Overview

Code Attributes

Character	ICD-10-PCS Category	Code Group Details
C	Section	Nuclear Medicine
5	Body System	Veins
1	Operation	Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging
R	Body Part	Central Veins

When to Use

Use a code from this group when a radioactive tracer is introduced into central veins expressly to obtain single plane planar nuclear medicine images. Do not use this group for multi‑planar or tomographic nuclear imaging studies or for procedures that do not involve introduction of radioactive materials into central veins.

ICD-10-PCS Codes

2 rows

ICD-10-PCS Code	Description
C51R1ZZ	Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging of Central Veins using Technetium 99m (Tc-99m)
C51RYZZ	Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging of Central Veins using Other Radionuclide

Typical Clinical Scenarios

An elderly hospitalized patient with a newly detected upper extremity central venous catheter malfunction and suspected catheter-related thrombosis develops unilateral arm swelling and pain; the team needs to visualize venous patency and flow to guide anticoagulation and potential catheter removal, so planar nuclear medicine imaging of the central veins is performed after injecting a radiotracer into the venous system to obtain single‑plane images of central venous drainage. Typical codes: C51R1ZZ, C51RYZZ
A neonate in the inpatient pediatric unit with a history of complex congenital heart disease requires assessment of central venous anatomy and catheter tip location prior to initiating long‑term parenteral nutrition; because rapid, low‑dose single‑plane imaging is preferred to minimize radiation and sedation time, a planar nuclear medicine study of the central veins is done using an appropriate radionuclide introduced into the venous system. Typical codes: C51R1ZZ, C51RYZZ
A hospitalized patient presents with unexplained high‑output sepsis and concern for occult central venous leak from recent central line placement; to localize abnormal venous flow or extravasation without cross‑sectional imaging, clinicians perform planar nuclear medicine imaging by introducing a radioactive tracer into the central veins to capture single‑plane images and identify sites of leakage or abnormal venous distribution. Typical codes: C51RYZZ, C51R1ZZ

ICD-10-PCS Code For Right Lower Extremity Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51C-LEFT-LOWER-EXTREMITY-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Lower Extremity Veins, Left: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51D-LOWER-EXTREMITY-VEINS-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Lower Extremity Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51N-UPPER-EXTREMITY-VEINS-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Upper Extremity Veins, Right: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51P-LEFT-UPPER-EXTREMITY-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Upper Extremity Veins, Left: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51Q-UPPER-EXTREMITY-VEINS-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Upper Extremity Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51Y-VEINS-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.

Published by

Trek Health powers OpenPayer with a leading commercial payer intelligence platform, seamlessly converting fragmented payer data into actionable insights for provider organizations.

Trek Health ingests and normalizes Transparency in Coverage data and payer policy updates to give provider organizations a clear view of how commercial reimbursement behaves across markets, payers, and services. Our platform transforms raw payer disclosures into structured intelligence that supports contract evaluation, payer negotiations, and service line strategy. By combining market benchmarks with ongoing policy visibility, Trek helps teams identify variability, risk, and opportunity in commercial reimbursement. The result is faster insight, stronger negotiating positions, and more informed financial decisions.

Explore openpayer tools

View all tools

When to Use

ICD-10-PCS Codes

2 rows

ICD-10-PCS Code	Description
C51R1ZZ	Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging of Central Veins using Technetium 99m (Tc-99m)
C51RYZZ	Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging of Central Veins using Other Radionuclide

Typical Clinical Scenarios

An elderly hospitalized patient with a newly detected upper extremity central venous catheter malfunction and suspected catheter-related thrombosis develops unilateral arm swelling and pain; the team needs to visualize venous patency and flow to guide anticoagulation and potential catheter removal, so planar nuclear medicine imaging of the central veins is performed after injecting a radiotracer into the venous system to obtain single‑plane images of central venous drainage. Typical codes: C51R1ZZ, C51RYZZ
A neonate in the inpatient pediatric unit with a history of complex congenital heart disease requires assessment of central venous anatomy and catheter tip location prior to initiating long‑term parenteral nutrition; because rapid, low‑dose single‑plane imaging is preferred to minimize radiation and sedation time, a planar nuclear medicine study of the central veins is done using an appropriate radionuclide introduced into the venous system. Typical codes: C51R1ZZ, C51RYZZ
A hospitalized patient presents with unexplained high‑output sepsis and concern for occult central venous leak from recent central line placement; to localize abnormal venous flow or extravasation without cross‑sectional imaging, clinicians perform planar nuclear medicine imaging by introducing a radioactive tracer into the central veins to capture single‑plane images and identify sites of leakage or abnormal venous distribution. Typical codes: C51RYZZ, C51R1ZZ

ICD-10-PCS Code For Right Lower Extremity Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51C-LEFT-LOWER-EXTREMITY-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Lower Extremity Veins, Left: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51D-LOWER-EXTREMITY-VEINS-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Lower Extremity Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51N-UPPER-EXTREMITY-VEINS-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Upper Extremity Veins, Right: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51P-LEFT-UPPER-EXTREMITY-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Upper Extremity Veins, Left: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51Q-UPPER-EXTREMITY-VEINS-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Upper Extremity Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

C51Y-VEINS-PLANAR-IMAGING

ICD-10-PCS Code For Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.

Published by

Trek Health powers OpenPayer with a leading commercial payer intelligence platform, seamlessly converting fragmented payer data into actionable insights for provider organizations.

OpenPayer

ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

Sign up for ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview policy alerts

Central Veins Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging Procedure Overview

Code Attributes

OpenPayer

ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

Sign up for ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview policy alerts

Central Veins Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging Procedure Overview

Code Attributes

When to Use

ICD-10-PCS Codes

Typical Clinical Scenarios

Related Codes

References

When to Use

ICD-10-PCS Codes

Typical Clinical Scenarios

Related Codes

References

ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

Sign up for ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview policy alerts

Central Veins Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging Procedure Overview

Code Attributes

ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview

Sign up for ICD-10-PCS Code For Central Veins: Procedure Code Group Overview policy alerts

Central Veins Planar Nuclear Medicine Imaging Procedure Overview

Code Attributes

When to Use

ICD-10-PCS Codes

Typical Clinical Scenarios

Related Codes

Which procedures are included in the ICD-10-PCS C51R code group?

What are the specific ICD-10-PCS codes listed in this group?

Under which ICD-10-PCS section and body system are these procedures coded?

How does accurate coding within C51R affect inpatient reimbursement?

What is the clinical purpose of procedures in the C51R group?

References

When to Use

ICD-10-PCS Codes

Typical Clinical Scenarios

Related Codes

Which procedures are included in the ICD-10-PCS C51R code group?

What are the specific ICD-10-PCS codes listed in this group?

Under which ICD-10-PCS section and body system are these procedures coded?

How does accurate coding within C51R affect inpatient reimbursement?

What is the clinical purpose of procedures in the C51R group?

References