Summary & Overview

CPT 41250: Repair of Tongue or Floor of Mouth Laceration, ≤2.5 cm

CPT code 41250 designates surgical repair of a laceration 2.5 cm or less of the floor of the mouth or the anterior two-thirds of the tongue, or both. This code captures minor oral soft-tissue repair procedures commonly performed in emergency departments, urgent care centers, and outpatient surgical or oral surgery settings. Nationally, accurate use of this code matters for clinical documentation, procedural quality tracking, and appropriate payment for commonly encountered oral trauma.

Key payers in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. The publication provides a concise reference for clinicians and billing staff on clinical context, common sites of service, and coding benchmarks relevant to these payers.

Readers will learn what CPT code 41250 represents, where the procedure is typically performed, and how it fits into clinical workflows for minor oral trauma. The piece summarizes available national benchmarks where present, notes policy or coverage considerations reported by major payers, and outlines operational implications for documentation and claims submission. Data not available in the input is explicitly noted where applicable.

AetnaBlue Cross Blue ShieldCigna HealthUnitedHealthcareMedicareCPT 41250oral laceration repairtongue lacerationfloor of mouthoral surgeryemergency medicineambulatory care

Billing Code Overview

CPT code 41250 describes repair of a laceration of the floor of the mouth or the anterior two-thirds of the tongue, or both, when the laceration measures 2.5 cm or less. This procedure involves surgical closure of soft tissue lacerations in the oral cavity.

Service type: Minor oral soft-tissue laceration repair
Typical site of service: Procedure is commonly performed in outpatient surgical suites, emergency departments, urgent care settings, or ambulatory oral surgery clinics

Data not available in the input.

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

A 28-year-old male presents to the emergency department after sustaining a fall with a laceration to the anterior tongue and floor of mouth from a bicycle handlebar. On exam there is a 2.0 cm transverse full‑thickness laceration across the anterior two‑thirds of the tongue with minimal active bleeding and no airway compromise. Vital signs are stable. The provider obtains informed consent, administers local anesthesia with infiltration and field block, irrigates and debrides the wound, achieves hemostasis, and performs layered closure with absorbable sutures for the muscular layer and interrupted sutures for the mucosa. The procedure is documented as a primary repair of a laceration 2.5 cm or less of the anterior two‑thirds of the tongue and floor of mouth using appropriate wound care instructions and follow‑up in 5–7 days for suture check.

Coding Specifications

Modifier	Description	When to Use
`25`	Data not available in the input.	Data not available in the input.
`59`	Distinct procedural service	Use when a separate, distinct procedure unrelated to other services on the same day is performed on the same anatomical region.

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
`207P00000X`	Otolaryngology (ENT)	Common specialists performing oral cavity laceration repair.
`1223P0002X`	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery	Performs complex tongue and floor of mouth repairs, often for deeper or traumatic injuries.
`207L00000X`	Plastic Surgery	Involved when cosmetic or complex mucosal reconstruction is required.
`208D00000X`	General Surgery	May perform repairs in trauma or ED settings when other specialists are unavailable.
`208000000X`	Emergency Medicine	Frequently performs primary closure of oral lacerations in the ED setting.

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`12001`	Simple repair of superficial wounds of face, ears, eyelids, nose, lips; 2.5 cm or less	May be used for superficial oral mucosal lacerations in some outpatient settings when documentation aligns, but oral laceration code `41250` is specific for tongue/floor of mouth.
`12032`	Repair, intermediate, wounds of face, ears, eyelids, nose, lips; 2.6 cm to 7.5 cm	Used when laceration depth or complexity exceeds what is described in `41250`; choose based on anatomic specificity and complexity.
`41015`	Repair of mucous membrane of lip, 2.5 cm or less	Used for lip mucosal repairs; anatomically distinct from tongue/floor of mouth repair.
`41899`	Unlisted procedure, lip, oral mucosa and accessory sinuses	Used when no specific code exists for an unusual oral repair not described by `41250`.
`99100`	Anesthesia for patient of extreme age, under 1 year and over 70 years (example)	Ancillary code that may apply if special anesthesia circumstances exist during the procedure.

OpenPayer