CPT 00162: Anesthesia for Radical Surgery on Nose and Accessory Sinuses
CPT code 00162 covers anesthesia services for patients undergoing radical surgery of the nose and accessory sinuses. This code designates the anesthesia professional’s role in delivering general anesthesia and perioperative management during extensive sinonasal procedures, which can involve complex airway management and prolonged operative time. Nationally, this code is relevant for hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers that perform advanced otolaryngologic and facial procedures.
Key payers in the national context include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find an overview of clinical context for the code, typical sites of service, commonly associated procedural and airway management considerations, and comparisons across payer coverage conventions. The publication also highlights related procedural CPT codes that commonly appear with sinonasal surgery and the typical clinical diagnoses that prompt use of this anesthesia code.
This material is intended to inform billing, revenue cycle, and clinical teams about the purpose and clinical setting for CPT code 00162, and to clarify where it fits within anesthesia coding for major nasal and accessory sinus operations.
Customize your policy alerts
Sign up for cpt 00162 policy alerts
Get alerted when payer policies referencing 00162 are released or updated.
Monitor payer policy activity
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 00162 describes anesthesia services provided for a patient undergoing radical surgery on the nose and accessory sinuses. This service involves administration and management of anesthesia throughout the perioperative period for extensive sinonasal surgery.
-
Service type: General anesthesia services for radical nasal and accessory sinus surgery
-
Typical site of service: Operating room or ambulatory surgery center for sinonasal surgical procedures
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
National commercial pricing for CPT 00162 centers near BUCA’s average commercial rate of $74, which serves as a useful mid-market reference. Among named payers, Cigna posts the highest mean ($94.20) while UnitedHealth Group and Blue Cross Blue Shield cluster closer to BUCA’s midpoint with means of $67.30 and $69.90 respectively. Aetna exhibits a broader span of outcomes with a notably high maximum ($313.70), indicating occasional outliers above typical contractual levels. Dispersion measured by the interquartile range (P75 minus P25) highlights variation in payer contract consistency: Blue Cross Blue Shield has the tightest IQR at $39.70 (from $50.30 to $90.30), while Cigna shows the widest IQR at $54.20 (from $67.90 to $121.10). Aetna’s IQR is $48.70 (from $42.00 to $87.70) and UnitedHealth Group’s is $28.80 (from $52.00 to $80.80), so payers vary meaningfully in contract spread around BUCA’s mean.