Summary & Overview
CPT 15769: Autologous Soft-Tissue Harvest and Transfer
CPT code 15769 represents intraoperative autologous soft-tissue harvest and transfer, in which a provider excises fat, dermis, fascia, or other tissue and uses it to fill a defect elsewhere on the same patient during the same operative session. This reconstructive technique is used across surgical specialties for defect repair, contour restoration, and wound coverage, and it has implications for operative planning, documentation, and payer adjudication on a national scale.
Key payers covered in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of the clinical context for 15769, common billing considerations, and benchmarking information where available. The publication summarizes reimbursement patterns, common modifiers encountered, typical sites of service, and policy updates that affect coding and coverage for autologous soft-tissue transfer procedures.
The article is structured to help clinicians, coding professionals, and policy analysts quickly understand what 15769 represents, which payers have established positions, and where variability typically arises in claims processing. Data not available in the input is identified as such in relevant sections.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 15769 describes the excision (harvesting) of fat, dermis, fascia, or other soft tissue that is then used to fill a defect elsewhere on the same patient during the same operative session. This procedure is a form of autologous soft-tissue reconstruction where tissue is relocated intraoperatively to repair or augment a defect.
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Service type: Autologous soft-tissue harvest and transfer for defect reconstruction
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Typical site of service: Operating room (inpatient or outpatient surgical setting) for reconstructive procedures
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A typical patient is a 58-year-old woman with a large soft-tissue defect of the lower leg following wide local excision of a recurrent cutaneous malignancy. The surgical team performs tumor extirpation and assesses a volume deficit that cannot be closed primarily. During the same operative session, the surgeon harvests autologous soft tissue (fat and dermis) from the ipsilateral thigh and transposes it into the leg defect to restore contour and provide soft-tissue padding prior to definitive wound closure. The procedure occurs in an operating room setting with general or regional anesthesia. Intraoperative workflow includes defect assessment after tumor removal, planning the donor site, harvesting the graft or flap tissue, preparing the recipient bed, securing the graft/flap, and closing donor and recipient sites with layered sutures and dressings. Postoperative care includes monitoring for hematoma, graft take, infection, and donor-site morbidity, with follow-up visits for wound checks and suture removal.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
51 | Multiple Procedures | When additional distinct surgical procedures are performed at the same session and not included in the base code payment. |
59 |