Summary & Overview
CPT 32900: Rib Resection, Partial or Complete
CPT code 32900 denotes surgical rib resection, a thoracic procedure involving removal of one or more ribs or a rib segment. The code is clinically important for cases such as tumor resection, traumatic rib injury, thoracic outlet decompression, or access for other intrathoracic surgeries. Nationally, it represents an infrequent but high-resource operation that is relevant to hospital surgical services, inpatient payment policies, and perioperative care standards.
Key payers covered in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of clinical context, typical sites of service, and the billing implications tied to this procedure. The publication summarizes available benchmarks for utilization and reimbursement (where available), highlights policy updates affecting coverage and prior authorization practices, and outlines typical coding considerations for surgical thoracic services.
This resource is intended to inform clinicians, coding professionals, and payer policy analysts about the clinical nature of the service, common billing context, and areas where payer policies and hospital practices intersect. Data not available in the input is explicitly identified in relevant sections.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 32900 describes a surgical procedure in which the provider removes one or more of the patient’s ribs or a section of a rib. This operation is performed for clinical indications that require partial or complete rib resection.
-
Service type: Surgical procedure — thoracic/rib resection
-
Typical site of service: Operating room or inpatient surgical setting
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A typical patient is a 55-year-old smoker presenting with persistent pleuritic chest pain and recurrent lower lobe pulmonary infections. Imaging (CT chest) demonstrates a localized, chronically infected rib segment with osteomyelitis and adjacent empyema, or a painful rib tumor (e.g., chondrosarcoma) requiring resection. The surgical team (thoracic surgeon or general surgeon with thoracic expertise) evaluates the patient in the preoperative clinic, documents imaging and indications, obtains informed consent, and coordinates perioperative care including antibiotics, pain control, and pulmonary optimization. In the operating room under general anesthesia, the surgeon performs a rib resection — removing one or more ribs or a segment of a rib (CPT 32900) — with appropriate margins, hemostasis, and chest wall reconstruction as needed. Postoperative care includes chest tube management if pleural entry occurred, monitoring for respiratory compromise, pain management, and wound care. Hospital inpatient stay is common; outpatient or ambulatory surgery may be appropriate for limited resections without pleural violation.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
22 | Increased procedural services | Use when the rib resection requires substantially greater work than typical (extensive dissection or reconstruction). |