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CPT 10060: Incision and Drainage of Superficial Abscess

CPT code 10060 designates a simple incision and drainage (I&D) procedure for a superficially located abscess. It is widely used in ambulatory and emergency care settings to treat localized purulent infections such as furuncles, carbuncles, cysts, and paronychia. As a common, low-complexity surgical intervention, CPT code 10060 matters nationally for both clinical workflow and outpatient surgical billing, representing frequent encounters across primary care, urgent care, and emergency medicine.

Key payers included in this analysis are Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of clinical context, typical sites of service, common companion and related codes, and the typical diagnoses that justify the service (for example, cutaneous abscess and cellulitis). The publication summarizes procedural scope, common billing considerations, and payer coverage landscape to help revenue cycle and clinical teams align coding and documentation with payer expectations.

This summary covers benchmarks and policy-relevant points affecting use of CPT code 10060, clarifies where the procedure is typically performed, and outlines relevant clinical situations prompting the service. Data not provided in the input (for example, payer-specific reimbursement rates or regional utilization metrics) is noted as unavailable.

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Billing Code Overview

CPT code 10060 describes a simple incision and drainage (I&D) of an abscess. The procedure involves making a single incision through the skin to open and drain a localized collection of pus from a lesion such as a carbuncle, cyst, furuncle, hidradenitis, or paronychia using surgical instruments.

Service type: Minor surgical procedure — incision and drainage of superficial abscess

Typical site of service: Office, urgent care clinic, or emergency department for lesions located immediately beneath the skin surface

National Reimbursement Benchmarks

Nationally, Medicare's mean reimbursement for CPT 10060 sits at $133.10, while BUCA’s average commercial mean is substantially higher at $236.60, reflecting a spread of $103.50 between public and the BUCA commercial benchmark. This gap highlights the typical structural difference between Medicare and average commercial commercial rates for this code.

Dispersion measured by the interquartile range (P75 minus P25) varies notably across payers: Blue Cross Blue Shield shows one of the widest spreads at $120.20 (P75 $353.70 minus P25 $233.50), while Aetna is much tighter with a spread of $95.00 (P75 $172.50 minus P25 $72.80). UnitedHealth Group and Cigna have similar dispersion at $119.70 and $116.60 respectively, and BUCA’s IQR is $115.90, indicating relatively broad commercial variability compared with Aetna’s tighter band; Medicare’s IQR is narrow at $14.00.

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CPT 10060: Incision and Drainage of Superficial Abscess

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Billing Code Overview

Service type: Minor surgical procedure — incision and drainage of superficial abscess

Typical site of service: Office, urgent care clinic, or emergency department for lesions located immediately beneath the skin surface

National Reimbursement Benchmarks

National Payer Mean Reimbursement Rates

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

A 34-year-old patient presents to the emergency department with a 48-hour history of a painful, fluctuant swelling in the right axilla with localized erythema and fever. The clinician performs a focused history and targeted physical exam, documents review of systems and comorbidities (including diabetes screening), and confirms a superficial cutaneous abscess clinically consistent with L02.611. After informed consent, the procedure area is prepared with antiseptic, local anesthetic is infiltrated, and a single incision and drainage is performed using scalpel and blunt dissection to evacuate purulent material. Wound culture specimens are obtained as clinically indicated. The wound is irrigated, hemostasis achieved, and a sterile dressing and packing are placed when appropriate. Post-procedure instructions, wound care education, and prescriptions (e.g., oral antibiotics or analgesics) are provided. The visit is documented with procedure details (site, size, anesthesia, instruments, culture), estimated complexity, and follow-up plan. Typical sites of service include the emergency department, urgent care clinic, or outpatient procedure room. The service type is a minor surgical procedure: simple incision and drainage of a superficial cutaneous abscess (CPT 10060).

Coding Specifications

Modifier	Description	When to Use
`25`	Significant, separately identifiable E/M service by the same physician on the same day as the procedure	When a distinct evaluation and management visit is performed and documented in addition to `CPT 10060` (e.g., extensive history/exam and medical decision-making before I&D).

| 59 | Distinct procedural service | When reporting a separate, distinct procedure not normally reported together with CPT 10060 (use per payer policy to indicate a separate site or procedure).

| 52 | Reduced services | When the I&D is performed but significantly reduced or incomplete (document reason for reduction).

| 53 | Discontinued procedure | When the I&D is started but discontinued due to extenuating circumstances or patient instability.

| 51 | Multiple procedures | When multiple distinct procedures are performed during the same session in addition to CPT 10060 (check payer bundling rules).

| 76 | Repeat procedure by same physician | When a repeat I&D of the same lesion is performed by the same physician during the postoperative period or same encounter.

| 77 | Repeat procedure by another physician | When a repeat I&D of the same lesion is performed by a different physician.

| 90* | Not listed in provided modifiers — Data not available in the input. | Data not available in the input.

| LT | Left side | When the procedure is performed on the left side (e.g., L02.612).

| RT | Right side | When the procedure is performed on the right side (e.g., L02.611).

| 52 | Reduced services (duplicate entry present in source list) | See above entry for 52.

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
`208600000X`	Surgery Physician	General surgeons perform I&D for complex or recurrent abscesses.

| 207Q00000X | Family Medicine Physician | Primary care physicians commonly manage and perform simple I&D in outpatient settings.

| 207P00000X | Emergency Medicine Physician | Emergency physicians frequently perform I&D for acute superficial abscesses in ED or urgent care.

Related Diagnoses

ICD-10 Code	Description	Clinical Relevance
`L02.611`	Cutaneous abscess of right axilla	Direct indication for a localized incision and drainage of an axillary abscess on the right side.

| L02.612 | Cutaneous abscess of left axilla | Direct indication for incision and drainage of an axillary abscess on the left side.

| L02.91 | Cutaneous abscess, unspecified | Use when an abscess is identified but laterality or specific site is not further specified; still an indication for CPT 10060.

| L03.311 | Cellulitis of abdominal wall | Cellulitis may coexist with or surround an abscess; documentation must distinguish cellulitis from a drainable collection.

| L03.90 | Cellulitis, unspecified | General cellulitis diagnosis that may accompany or complicate an abscess; relevant for clinical context and antibiotic therapy.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`10061`	Incision and drainage of abscess; complicated or multiple	Used when the abscess is complex, multiloculated, or multiple incisions are required beyond a single simple I&D (`CPT 10060`).

| 10160 | Puncture aspiration of abscess, hematoma, bulla, or cyst | Alternative to I&D when aspiration is appropriate rather than incision, or used for certain cystic lesions.

| 99213 | Established patient office or other outpatient visit, level 3 | May be reported for an established patient visit when a separate E/M is provided and not bundled with the procedure (use 25 if same-day).

| 99203 | New patient office or other outpatient visit, level 3 | May be reported for a new patient visit when a separate E/M is provided in addition to the procedure (use 25 if same-day).

CPT 10040: Extraction of Skin Lesions (Milia, Comedones, Cysts, Pustules)

CPT-10061-COMPLICATED-INCISION-AND-DRAINAGE-ABSCESS

CPT 10061: Complicated Incision and Drainage of Abscess

CPT-10080-PILONIDAL-CYST-INCISION-AND-DRAINAGE

CPT 10080: Incision and Drainage of Pilonidal Cyst

CPT-10081-PILONIDAL-CYST-INCISION-DRAINAGE-PROCEDURE

CPT 10081: Incision and Drainage of Pilonidal Cyst

CPT-10120-FOREIGN-BODY-REMOVAL-SUBCUTANEOUS

CPT 10120: Removal of Subcutaneous Foreign Body

CPT-10121-DEEP-FOREIGN-BODY-REMOVAL-SOFT-TISSUE

CPT 10121: Removal of Deep Foreign Body from Soft Tissue

CPT-10140-INCISION-AND-DRAINAGE-HEMATOMA-SEROMA-FLUID-EVACUATION

CPT 10140: Incision and Drainage of Hematoma, Seroma, or Fluid Collection

CPT-10160-PERCUTANEOUS-ASPIRATION-SKIN-FLUID-COLLECTION-CULTURE

CPT 10160: Percutaneous Aspiration of Skin/Soft-Tissue Fluid

CPT-10180-INCISION-DRAINAGE-INSTRUMENT-ASSISTED-INFECTION

CPT 10180: Incision and Drainage of Infection, Instrument-Assisted

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Jul 29, 2026.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Jul 29, 2026.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Jul 29, 2026.

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Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Coding Specifications

Modifier	Description	When to Use
`25`	Significant, separately identifiable E/M service by the same physician on the same day as the procedure	When a distinct evaluation and management visit is performed and documented in addition to `CPT 10060` (e.g., extensive history/exam and medical decision-making before I&D).