Summary & Overview
CPT 34713: Percutaneous Femoral Sheath for Endograft Delivery
CPT code 34713 captures percutaneous femoral arterial access involving insertion of a 12F or larger sheath to deliver an endograft during a primary endovascular vascular repair. It is an add-on, side-specific code used to report the access and closure steps that accompany delivery of the endograft. Nationally, accurate use of this code affects clinical documentation, facility and professional billing, and aggregated procedure-level reporting for complex endovascular interventions.
Key payers addressed in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise explanation of the code’s clinical context, common billing considerations, and the service and site-of-service expectations tied to CPT code 34713. The report outlines typical use cases where a large-bore femoral sheath is required, clarifies that the code is one-sided and adjunctive to the primary repair code, and summarizes common modifiers and payer policies where available. Data not available in the input is noted when relevant.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 34713 describes the percutaneous insertion of a large-bore (12F or larger) femoral arterial sheath through a small skin incision, typically using ultrasound guidance, performed during a primary endovascular vascular procedure to deliver an endograft. The provider closes the arterial and skin puncture sites after delivery. This code is reported for one side only and is reported in addition to the primary endovascular repair procedure.
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Service type: Percutaneous vascular access for delivery of endovascular grafts
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Typical site of service: Hospital operating room or interventional radiology / endovascular suite
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A 74-year-old male with a 5.5 cm infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm is evaluated by a vascular surgery team for elective endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). The patient has hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and peripheral vascular disease. Under ultrasound and fluoroscopic guidance in the vascular operating room or interventional suite, the surgeon performs percutaneous access of the common femoral artery, advances a 12F or larger introducer sheath, and delivers the endograft device via the femoral access to the aortic neck. After deployment of the endograft and confirmation of adequate seal and limb perfusion, the arterial access site is closed using a percutaneous closure device or direct suture repair, and skin punctures are closed. The code 34713 is reported in addition to the primary EVAR procedure code to indicate percutaneous femoral artery access with a large-bore sheath on one side. Typical site of service is an outpatient or inpatient vascular operating room or an interventional radiology suite depending on patient status and procedural complexity. Typical service type: surgical/endovascular interventional procedure requiring imaging guidance and vascular access management.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
50 | Bilateral procedure | Use when reporting bilateral percutaneous femoral access (note: 34713 is one side only; bilateral access requires appropriate reporting per payer guidance). |