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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.

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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

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CPT 32900: Rib Resection, Partial or Complete

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Billing Code Overview

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).
`23`	Unusual anesthesia	Use if general anesthesia is medically contraindicated and a qualifying circumstance necessitates use of an unusual anesthesia type.
`26`	Professional component	Use when reporting only the physician professional component separate from facility services (rare for `CPT 32900`).
`50`	Bilateral procedure	Use when ribs are resected on both left and right sides during the same operative session.
`51`	Multiple procedures	Use when `CPT 32900` is performed in the same session with other distinct surgical procedures.
`52`	Reduced services	Use when the rib resection is partially performed or intentionally reduced in scope.
`53`	Discontinued procedure	Use when the procedure is begun but terminated due to extenuating circumstances.
`62`	Two surgeons	Use when two surgeons of different specialties work together as primary surgeons performing distinct portions of the rib resection.
`66`	Surgical team	Use when the procedure is performed by a surgical team with documented team approach.
`78`	Return to operating room for related procedure during global period	Use when a return to OR is required for a complication related to the initial rib resection during the global period.
`79`	Unrelated procedure or service by the same physician during the postoperative period	Use when an unrelated procedure is performed during the global period (note: `79` was not in provided list; will not be used).
`80`	Assistant surgeon	Use when an assistant surgeon is required and their services are reported.
`81`	Minimum assistant surgeon	Use when a minimal assistant surgeon is documented and allowed.
`82`	Assistant surgeon (when qualified resident not available)	Use when an assistant is required but a qualified resident is unavailable.

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
2080S0105X	Thoracic Surgery	Primary specialty performing rib resections for chest wall disease.
2080P0800X	General Surgery	General surgeons perform rib resections for trauma or tumor.
207K00000X	Orthopedic Surgery	Orthopedic oncologists may perform resections for chest wall tumors.
261QM0800X	Plastic Surgery	Plastic surgeons assist/reconstruct chest wall defects after rib resection.

Related Diagnoses

ICD-10 Code	Description	Clinical Relevance
`M86.171`	Chronic osteomyelitis of right rib	Indicates chronic rib infection necessitating debridement and possible rib resection.
`M86.172`	Chronic osteomyelitis of left rib	Same as above for the left side.
`C40.2`	Malignant neoplasm of long bones of lower limb (note: not rib-specific)	Data not available in the input.
`C41.2`	Malignant neoplasm of rib, sternum and clavicle	Primary malignant tumor of the rib requiring resection.
`S22.41XA`	Multiple fractured ribs, left side, initial encounter	Rib resection may be required for nonunion, chronic pain, or malunion after severe fractures.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`32551`	Tube thoracostomy, includes connection to drainage system (e.g., chest tube)	Performed before, during, or after rib resection when pleural entry or effusion requires drainage.
`21510`	Excision of rib, partial or complete (separate code historically; included here for context)	Historically used for localized bone excisions of ribs; may be considered in coding discussions—verify current coding guidance.
`21810`	Resection of portion of rib	Used for chest wall resections involving rib segments and potential reconstruction.
`15734`	Muscle, myocutaneous or fasciocutaneous flap with microvascular anastomosis, for chest wall reconstruction	Used when complex chest wall reconstruction is required after rib resection.
`19318`	Revision of reconstructed breast (includes chest wall reconstruction elements)	May be used if reconstructive work on the chest wall/breast complex follows rib resection.

Related Codes

CPT-32905-THORACIC-REPAIR-FOR-EMPYEMA

CPT 32905: Thoracic Repair of Chest Cavity for Empyema

CPT-32906-RIB-EXCISION-CHEST-WALL-COLLAPSE-BRONCHOPLEURAL-FISTULA-CLOSURE

CPT 32906: Rib Excision with Chest Wall Collapse and Bronchopleural Fistula Closure

CPT-32940-SURGICAL-PLEUROLYSIS-LYSIS-OF-PLEURAL-ADHESIONS

CPT 32940: Surgical Pleurolysis (Lysis of Pleural Adhesions)

CPT-32960-THERAPEUTIC-PLEURAL-PNEUMOTHORAX-INDUCTION

CPT 32960: Therapeutic Induction of Partial Pneumothorax

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.

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Trek Health ingests and normalizes Transparency in Coverage data and payer policy updates to give provider organizations a clear view of how commercial reimbursement behaves across markets, payers, and services. Our platform transforms raw payer disclosures into structured intelligence that supports contract evaluation, payer negotiations, and service line strategy. By combining market benchmarks with ongoing policy visibility, Trek helps teams identify variability, risk, and opportunity in commercial reimbursement. The result is faster insight, stronger negotiating positions, and more informed financial decisions.

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Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

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).
`23`	Unusual anesthesia	Use if general anesthesia is medically contraindicated and a qualifying circumstance necessitates use of an unusual anesthesia type.
`26`	Professional component	Use when reporting only the physician professional component separate from facility services (rare for `CPT 32900`).
`50`	Bilateral procedure	Use when ribs are resected on both left and right sides during the same operative session.
`51`	Multiple procedures	Use when `CPT 32900` is performed in the same session with other distinct surgical procedures.
`52`	Reduced services	Use when the rib resection is partially performed or intentionally reduced in scope.
`53`	Discontinued procedure	Use when the procedure is begun but terminated due to extenuating circumstances.
`62`	Two surgeons	Use when two surgeons of different specialties work together as primary surgeons performing distinct portions of the rib resection.
`66`	Surgical team	Use when the procedure is performed by a surgical team with documented team approach.
`78`	Return to operating room for related procedure during global period	Use when a return to OR is required for a complication related to the initial rib resection during the global period.
`79`	Unrelated procedure or service by the same physician during the postoperative period	Use when an unrelated procedure is performed during the global period (note: `79` was not in provided list; will not be used).
`80`	Assistant surgeon	Use when an assistant surgeon is required and their services are reported.
`81`	Minimum assistant surgeon	Use when a minimal assistant surgeon is documented and allowed.
`82`	Assistant surgeon (when qualified resident not available)	Use when an assistant is required but a qualified resident is unavailable.

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
2080S0105X	Thoracic Surgery	Primary specialty performing rib resections for chest wall disease.
2080P0800X	General Surgery	General surgeons perform rib resections for trauma or tumor.
207K00000X	Orthopedic Surgery	Orthopedic oncologists may perform resections for chest wall tumors.
261QM0800X	Plastic Surgery	Plastic surgeons assist/reconstruct chest wall defects after rib resection.

Related Diagnoses

ICD-10 Code	Description	Clinical Relevance
`M86.171`	Chronic osteomyelitis of right rib	Indicates chronic rib infection necessitating debridement and possible rib resection.
`M86.172`	Chronic osteomyelitis of left rib	Same as above for the left side.
`C40.2`	Malignant neoplasm of long bones of lower limb (note: not rib-specific)	Data not available in the input.
`C41.2`	Malignant neoplasm of rib, sternum and clavicle	Primary malignant tumor of the rib requiring resection.
`S22.41XA`	Multiple fractured ribs, left side, initial encounter	Rib resection may be required for nonunion, chronic pain, or malunion after severe fractures.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`32551`	Tube thoracostomy, includes connection to drainage system (e.g., chest tube)	Performed before, during, or after rib resection when pleural entry or effusion requires drainage.
`21510`	Excision of rib, partial or complete (separate code historically; included here for context)	Historically used for localized bone excisions of ribs; may be considered in coding discussions—verify current coding guidance.
`21810`	Resection of portion of rib	Used for chest wall resections involving rib segments and potential reconstruction.
`15734`	Muscle, myocutaneous or fasciocutaneous flap with microvascular anastomosis, for chest wall reconstruction	Used when complex chest wall reconstruction is required after rib resection.
`19318`	Revision of reconstructed breast (includes chest wall reconstruction elements)	May be used if reconstructive work on the chest wall/breast complex follows rib resection.

Related Codes

CPT-32905-THORACIC-REPAIR-FOR-EMPYEMA

CPT 32905: Thoracic Repair of Chest Cavity for Empyema

CPT-32906-RIB-EXCISION-CHEST-WALL-COLLAPSE-BRONCHOPLEURAL-FISTULA-CLOSURE

CPT 32906: Rib Excision with Chest Wall Collapse and Bronchopleural Fistula Closure

CPT-32940-SURGICAL-PLEUROLYSIS-LYSIS-OF-PLEURAL-ADHESIONS

CPT 32940: Surgical Pleurolysis (Lysis of Pleural Adhesions)

CPT-32960-THERAPEUTIC-PLEURAL-PNEUMOTHORAX-INDUCTION

CPT 32960: Therapeutic Induction of Partial Pneumothorax

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.

Published by

Trek Health powers OpenPayer with a leading commercial payer intelligence platform, seamlessly converting fragmented payer data into actionable insights for provider organizations.