CPT 15760 Full-Thickness Skin Graft Reimbursement | OpenPayer

Summary & Overview

CPT 15760: Full-Thickness Skin Graft Harvest and Placement

CPT code 15760 covers excision of a full‑thickness skin graft from a donor site (for example, the external ear or nasal ala) with placement of the graft onto a recipient defect and primary closure of the donor area. This procedure is commonly used in reconstructive and plastic surgery to repair defects after trauma, tumor excision, or congenital deformity and has implications for procedure coding, surgical planning, and payer coverage nationally.

Key payers in this national overview include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. The report summarizes how CPT code 15760 is applied across outpatient and ambulatory surgical settings, typical clinical indications, and payer coverage considerations.

Readers will learn the clinical scope of the code, typical places of service, and operational context relevant to billing and revenue cycle teams. The summary highlights benchmarks and policy-relevant points where available and notes where input data is not provided. Content is intended to clarify the code’s clinical use and administrative handling for national audiences including clinicians, coders, and policy analysts.

AetnaBlue Cross Blue ShieldCigna HealthUnitedHealthcareMedicareCPT 15760skin graftfull-thickness graftreconstructive surgeryoutpatient surgeryambulatory surgical centersurgical codingplastic surgerydonor site closure

Billing Code Overview

CPT code 15760 describes an excision of a full-thickness skin graft from a donor site with placement of the graft on a recipient site to cover a defect, followed by closure of the donor area with sutures. The description specifies donor locations such as the external portion of the ear or the nasal ala (the external wing of the nose that includes cartilage).

Service type: Skin graft (full-thickness) harvest and placement, with donor-site closure

Typical site of service: Outpatient surgical setting or ambulatory surgical center; procedures may also occur in hospital outpatient departments depending on clinical context

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

A typical patient is a 58-year-old with a full-thickness nasal defect after excision of a skin cancer on the nasal ala. The reconstructive surgeon harvests a small full-thickness or epidermal skin graft from a donor site such as the external ear (auricle) or nasal sidewall, places the graft onto the recipient nasal defect to restore contour and epithelial coverage, and closes the donor site with sutures. The procedure is usually performed in an outpatient surgical suite, ambulatory surgery center, or office-based procedure room under local anesthesia with or without monitored anesthesia care. Intraoperative workflow includes lesion excision and hemostasis, measurement and preparation of the recipient bed, harvest of the appropriately sized skin graft from the donor site, graft placement and securement (sutures, bolster), and closure of the donor site. Postoperative workflow includes dressing application, wound care instructions, and scheduled follow-up to assess graft viability and donor site healing.

Coding Specifications

Modifier	Description	When to Use
`26`	Professional component	Use when only the physician’s professional component is billed and a separate technical component exists (rare for this procedure).
`50`

CPT 15774: Autologous Fat Grafting for Soft-Tissue Augmentation

CPT-15775-HAIR-GRAFT-PREPARATION-1-TO-15-GRAFTS

CPT 15775: Preparation and Transfer of 1–15 Hair Grafts

CPT-15777-BREAST-TRUNK-BIOLOGIC-IMPLANT-REINFORCEMENT

CPT 15777: Biologic Implant Reinforcement for Breast or Trunk Soft‑Tissue

CPT-15772-AUTOLOGOUS-FAT-GRAFTING-ADDITIONAL-50CC

CPT 15772: Autologous Fat Grafting, Additional 50 cc

CPT-15740-ISLAND-PEDICLE-FLAP-SOFT-TISSUE-RECONSTRUCTION

CPT 15740: Island Pedicle Flap for Local Soft-Tissue Reconstruction

CPT-15778-DELAYED-CLOSURE-IMPLANT-ABSORBABLE-MESH-GENITAL-PERINEAL-ABDOMINAL-DEFECT

CPT 15778: Delayed Implant of Absorbable Mesh for Genital/Perineal/Abdominal Defects

CPT-15757-MICROVASCULAR-FREE-SKIN-FLAP-RECONSTRUCTION

CPT 15757: Microvascular Free Skin Flap Reconstruction

CPT-15750-ISLAND-PEDICLE-FLAP-RECONSTRUCTIVE-SURGERY

CPT 15750: Island Pedicle Flap for Soft-Tissue Reconstruction

CPT-15771-AUTOLOGOUS-FAT-GRAFTING-50CC-OR-LESS

CPT 15771: Autologous Fat Grafting, 50 cc or Less

CPT-15776-SCALP-HAIR-GRAFT-TRANSPLANTATION-MORE-THAN-15-GRAFTS

CPT 15776: Scalp Hair Graft Transplantation, More Than 15 Grafts

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Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
207P00000X	Plastic Surgery	Common specialty performing reconstructive skin grafting for nasal and facial defects.
207L00000X	Otolaryngology (ENT)	Frequently performs grafting for nasal ala and perinasal defects.
207C00000X	Dermatology	Dermatologic surgeons perform graft harvest and placement after skin cancer excision.
208000000X	General Surgery	May perform skin grafting in head and neck reconstructive contexts.

Related Diagnoses

ICD-10 Code	Description	Clinical Relevance
`C44.3`	Malignant neoplasm of skin of other and unspecified parts of face	Facial skin cancers on the nasal ala or nearby sites often require excision and reconstruction with a graft.
`C44.31`	Basal cell carcinoma of skin of other and unspecified parts of face	Basal cell carcinoma excision can create defects requiring graft coverage.
`C44.32`	Squamous cell carcinoma of skin of other and unspecified parts of face	Squamous cell carcinoma resections on the nasal ala often need reconstructive grafting.
`L98.9`	Disorder of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, unspecified	Represents chronic wounds or defects that may be managed with grafting when specific diagnosis is not captured.
`S01.81XA`	Laceration without foreign body of other part of head, initial encounter	Traumatic nasal or auricular defects may be reconstructed with skin grafts.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`11400`	Excision, benign lesion including margins, trunk, arms or legs; excised diameter 0.5 cm or less	Often performed prior to grafting when excising benign skin lesions at the recipient site.
`11600`	Excision, malignant lesion including margins, trunk, arms or legs; excised diameter 0.5 cm or less	Used for malignant lesion excision that creates the defect requiring graft coverage.
`15260`	Full-thickness graft, forehead, cheek, eyelid, nose, lip and/or chin; 1.0 cm or less	Alternative full-thickness graft code for small defects on facial subunits; related by technique and site.
`15261`	Full-thickness graft, forehead, cheek, eyelid, nose, lip and/or chin; 1.1 to 2.0 cm	Used for slightly larger full-thickness facial grafts that may be paired with `15760` when donor site differs.
`13160`	Secondary closure of surgical wound or defect; complex closure of scalp, arms, and/or legs; 1.1 cm to 2.5 cm	May be used for complex closure of donor or adjacent wounds when layered closure is required.

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