Summary & Overview
CPT 37272: Atherectomy of Additional Femoral/Popliteal Lesion
CPT code 37272 captures atherectomy (with or without angioplasty) of an additional straightforward lesion in the femoral and popliteal vascular territory performed during the same session as an initial femoral or popliteal revascularization. Nationally, this code matters because it documents adjunct vessel treatment during complex peripheral arterial interventions and informs payment and utilization tracking for limb-salvage and peripheral vascular programs. Key payers addressed include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise clinical context for the procedure, typical sites of service, and an outline of what benchmarking and policy topics are relevant for this code, including coding conventions for same-session adjunct interventions, common billing considerations, and how payers typically classify peripheral endovascular procedures. The publication provides benchmarks and payer coverage context where available and highlights areas where policy updates or payer-specific rules commonly affect coverage and reimbursement. Data not available in the input for specific modifiers, associated taxonomies, ICD-10 diagnoses, and related codes is noted where those items would normally appear.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 37272 describes an intraprocedural atherectomy of an additional straightforward lesion in the femoral and popliteal vascular territory performed at the same session as an initial femoral or popliteal revascularization. The service includes removal of plaque (atherectomy), which may be accompanied by angioplasty, and encompasses all access, catheterization, lesion crossing, and imaging guidance. The territory covered includes the common femoral/profunda femoris and the superficial femoral/popliteal arteries. The approach may be open or percutaneous.
Service type: Peripheral endovascular atherectomy/adjunct vessel intervention performed during the same session as initial femoral or popliteal revascularization
Typical site of service: Hospital outpatient department, ambulatory surgical center, or inpatient operating room depending on clinical setting and approach (open or percutaneous).
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A 72-year-old patient with peripheral arterial disease presents with lifestyle-limiting claudication and an occlusive/stenotic lesion of the superficial femoral artery. The patient is scheduled for an initial femoral-popliteal revascularization procedure (open or percutaneous). During the same session the vascular specialist performs atherectomy of an additional straightforward stenotic lesion in another vessel within the femoral-popliteal territory (for example, treatment of a focal superficial femoral artery stenosis after completing revascularization of the popliteal artery). The procedure includes arterial access, catheterization, lesion crossing, intraprocedural imaging (angiography/fluoroscopy), plaque removal with an atherectomy device and, if required, adjunctive angioplasty. The usual workflow includes pre-procedure vascular assessment, intra-procedural anticoagulation and imaging, performance of the primary revascularization, then performance of the additional atherectomy in the same session, and post-procedural hemostasis and monitoring prior to discharge or transfer to recovery.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
59 | Distinct procedural service | Use when the atherectomy represents a separate and distinct service from another procedure performed the same day and documentation supports separate anatomic sites or distinct procedural service. |