Summary & Overview
CPT 0110T: Sensation and Pain Threshold Testing of an Extremity
CPT code 0110T represents a focused sensory threshold testing procedure that quantifies sensation and pain thresholds for non-pressure, non-vibration, non-thermal stimuli on an extremity to help diagnose peripheral nervous system disorders such as sensory nerve damage. This code captures a diagnostic assessment distinct from common thermal or vibration testing and is used where quantification of sensory deficits informs clinical decision-making. Nationally, accurate coding and documentation for sensory testing affect clinical reporting, diagnostic clarity, and payment adjudication for neurology and physiatry services.
Key payers included in the analysis are Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of clinical context for this test, typical sites of service, and the service type. The publication also summarizes payer coverage patterns and benchmarks where available, common modifier usage, and coding relationships relevant to billing and claims submission. Policy and reimbursement updates that impact coding, documentation expectations, and potential audit focus areas are summarized to give a national perspective on how this diagnostic service is handled across major payers.
This resource is intended to clarify clinical purpose, coding designation, and payer scope so billing professionals, clinicians, and policy analysts can interpret CPT code 0110T within a national reimbursement and clinical framework.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 0110T describes a clinical sensory testing procedure in which the provider determines sensation and pain thresholds for stimuli other than pressure, vibration, cold, or heat on an extremity and compares results to normal values. The exam is performed to assess and quantify sensory function of an extremity for diagnosis of peripheral nervous system disorders such as sensory nerve damage.
Service type: Sensory threshold testing / quantitative sensory testing
Typical site of service: Outpatient clinic or ambulatory care setting; neurology or physical medicine clinics; specialty diagnostic centers
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A 54-year-old patient presents to a neurology outpatient clinic with progressive numbness and tingling in the right hand and forearm following an industrial forearm contusion three months earlier. The treating neurologist documents altered light touch and pinprick sensation in a radial nerve distribution and orders quantitative sensory testing to assess sensory thresholds on the affected extremity. The procedure is performed in the clinic or an outpatient electrodiagnostic laboratory. After informed consent, the clinician uses calibrated non-pressure, non-thermal stimulators to deliver graded tactile and nociceptive stimuli to defined sites on the extremity. Thresholds for detection and pain are recorded and compared to age- and limb-matched normative values to quantify sensory loss and to aid diagnosis of peripheral nerve injury versus neuropathy. Findings are documented in the medical record, incorporated into the diagnostic impression, and used to guide further testing (for example nerve conduction studies, EMG) and treatment planning.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
22 | Increased procedural services | Use when the test requires substantially greater effort or time than usual due to complexity. |
23 |