Summary & Overview
CPT 15136: Dermal Autograft for Face, Hands, Feet, and Multiple Digits
CPT code 15136 covers dermal autograft procedures used for reconstructive coverage of complex anatomical areas including the face, scalp, eyelids, mouth, neck, ears, orbits, genitalia, hands, feet, and multiple digits. The code is an adjunct to a primary reconstructive procedure and accounts for additional grafted area by reporting each additional 100 cm² for adults or each additional 1 percent of body surface area for pediatric patients. Nationally, this code matters because it captures supplemental surgical work and material allocation in reconstructive cases, influencing reimbursement and coding accuracy for burn, trauma, and reconstructive surgery services.
Key payers in the analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise clinical context for when the code is appropriate, guidance on typical sites of service, and an overview of payer coverage considerations. The publication also summarizes benchmark elements and policy-relevant points to help billing, coding, and surgical teams ensure correct reporting when dermal autografts are performed alongside primary procedures.
Data not available in the input for associated taxonomies, specific ICD-10 pairings, and payer-specific billing rules.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 15136 describes a dermal autograft procedure for reconstruction of the face, scalp, eyelids, mouth, neck, ears, orbits, genitalia, hands, feet, and/or multiple digits. The code covers the graft procedure and specifically includes billing for each additional 100 cm² in adults or each additional 1 percent of body surface area in infants or children when applicable. This CPT code is intended to be reported in addition to the primary procedure code when a separate dermal autograft service is performed.
Service Type: Dermal autograft (skin grafting) for reconstructive surgery involving head, neck, genital, hands, feet, and digits.
Typical Site of Service: Operating room, ambulatory surgery center, or other procedural settings where reconstructive skin grafting is performed (inpatient or outpatient surgical sites).
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A 42-year-old male presents to the operating room after sustaining a deep partial- and full-thickness burn to the dorsal aspect of both hands and multiple digits following a workplace thermal injury. The acute burn wound has been debrided and the burn surgery team determines that autologous dermal grafting is required to optimize contour and graft take over the exposed tendons and joint surfaces. The primary procedure (e.g., split-thickness skin grafting or full-thickness skin graft to the hand) is performed first; a separate dermal autograft is then harvested and implanted to the hand and digits to provide a dermal scaffold and improve functional outcome.
The clinical workflow includes preoperative consent and planning, intraoperative debridement and preparation of recipient sites, harvest of the dermal autograft from a donor site (typically posterior thigh or lower abdomen), measurement of graft area (billing the base unit for the initial dermal autograft plus additional units for each additional 100 cm2 as appropriate), securing the dermal graft to recipient sites, application of dressings and immobilization, and routine postoperative wound checks and occupational therapy for hand function restoration. Documentation should clearly indicate the dermal autograft was performed in addition to the primary grafting procedure and must record graft size(s) to support additional 100 cm2 increments when applicable.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
22 | Increased procedural services |