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CPT 47539: Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Stent Placement

CPT code 47539 covers percutaneous transhepatic placement of a biliary stent through a new percutaneous access without placement of a separate drainage catheter. This image-guided interventional radiology procedure is used to restore or maintain bile duct patency in patients with obstructive biliary disease and often includes cholangiography, fluoroscopic and/or ultrasound guidance, balloon dilation, and stent manipulation. Nationally, the code is clinically important because it documents a definitive, minimally invasive treatment for biliary obstruction that affects hospital outpatient and inpatient interventional radiology workflows and reimbursement profiles.

Key payers considered include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a compact overview of the procedure and its clinical role, plus what to expect in payer coverage patterns and coding practice for image-guided biliary stent placement. The publication also presents benchmarks for utilization and payment where available, highlights relevant policy updates that affect facility and professional billing, and offers clinical context that clarifies when CPT code 47539 applies versus other biliary access and drainage procedures. Data not provided in the input are noted as unavailable in the relevant sections.

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Billing Code Overview

CPT code 47539 describes percutaneous transhepatic placement of a biliary stent through a newly created skin access tract without placement of a separate drainage catheter. The procedure may include cholangiography, fluoroscopic and/or ultrasound imaging guidance, balloon dilation of the bile ducts, and stent removal or exchange, and it includes all associated radiological supervision and interpretation.

Service type: Image-guided, percutaneous biliary stent placement
Typical site of service: Hospital interventional radiology suite or facility-based outpatient radiology setting

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CPT 47539: Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Stent Placement

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Get alerted when payer policies referencing 47539 are released or updated.

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Billing Code Overview

Service type: Image-guided, percutaneous biliary stent placement
Typical site of service: Hospital interventional radiology suite or facility-based outpatient radiology setting

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

A 68-year-old patient with obstructive jaundice secondary to a malignant hilar cholangiocarcinoma presents with progressive pruritus, rising bilirubin, and cholestatic liver enzyme pattern. After cross-sectional imaging (CT/MRI) demonstrates intrahepatic biliary dilation and percutaneous access is favored over endoscopic access due to altered postoperative anatomy, the interventional radiology team schedules a percutaneous transhepatic biliary stent placement under conscious sedation. The procedure involves sterile prep and local anesthesia at the skin entry site, ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance to access a dilated peripheral bile duct, catheterizing the biliary tree with cholangiography to define the stricture, traversing the malignant stenosis with guidewires, optional balloon dilation of the stricture, and deployment of an indwelling self-expanding metal stent across the obstructing lesion. No separate external biliary drainage catheter is left in place. The radiologist performs real-time fluoroscopic imaging and documents radiological supervision and interpretation. Typical postprocedure care includes monitoring in a recovery area for hemodynamic stability, assessment for bleeding, bile leak, or infection, and follow-up liver function tests. This percutaneous biliary stent placement is commonly performed in an ambulatory surgical center or hospital interventional radiology suite with appropriate fluoroscopy and ultrasound equipment.

Coding Specifications

Modifier	Description	When to Use
`11`	Professional component	Use to indicate the typical, non-modified service when reporting provider’s primary service without unusual circumstances.
`22`	Increased procedural services	Use when work required is substantially greater than typically required (e.g., multiple complex crossings, prolonged procedure time).
`23`	Unusual anesthesia	Use if general anesthesia is required for medical reasons not typically required for the procedure.
`26`	Professional component	Use when reporting only the physician interpretation and report for radiology services separate from technical component.
`50`	Bilateral procedure	Generally not applicable to biliary stent placement but available if truly bilateral separate procedures are done.
`52`	Reduced services	Use when the procedure is partially reduced or not completed as planned but still reportable.
`53`	Discontinued procedure	Use when the procedure is terminated due to extenuating circumstances after anesthesia/sedation initiated.
`62`	Two surgeons	Use when two surgeons work together as primary surgeons (rare for percutaneous biliary stent placement).
`66`	Surgical team	Use when a surgical team approach is required for a complex case.
`78`	Return to OR for related procedure during postoperative period	Use when the patient requires an unplanned return to the operating room for a complication related to the initial procedure.
`80`	Assistant surgeon	Use when an assistant surgeon is documented as assisting during the procedure.
`AS`	Physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist services	Use to indicate services furnished by an assistant at surgery when allowed by payer rules.
`TC`	Technical component	Use when reporting only the technical component of the service (equipment, supplies, technologist) separate from physician interpretation.
`QK`	Medical direction of two, three, or four concurrent anesthesia procedures	Use if the physician medically directs multiple concurrently administered anesthesia services for the patient.

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
2080P0106X	Interventional Radiology	Primary specialty performing percutaneous biliary stent placement.
207RG0100X	Diagnostic Radiology	Radiologists with interventional practice who perform image guidance and interpretation.
363L00000X	Gastroenterology	Occasionally involved for multidisciplinary planning or combined approaches in patients with complex biliary disease.
207K00000X	General Surgery	Hepatobiliary surgeons may be involved in cases requiring surgical input or combined procedures.

Related Diagnoses

ICD-10 Code	Description	Clinical Relevance
`C22.1`	Intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma	Malignant obstruction of intrahepatic bile ducts often requires percutaneous stent placement to relieve obstruction.
`C24.0`	Extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma	Malignancy causing distal or hilar biliary obstruction addressed by percutaneous stenting when endoscopic access is not feasible.
`K83.1`	Obstruction of bile duct	Direct indication for biliary decompression and stent placement.
`K83.0`	Cholangitis	Acute or recurrent infection may require biliary drainage and stenting to relieve obstruction and facilitate resolution.
`K80.10`	Calculus of bile duct with obstruction, without cholangitis	Choledocholithiasis causing obstructive symptoms that may be managed with stent placement if stone removal is not immediately feasible.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`47539`	Placement of biliary stent via new percutaneous transhepatic access; without separate catheter for external drainage	Primary procedure: percutaneous biliary stent placement through a new percutaneous access without leaving an external drain.
`47531`	Percutaneous biliary drainage, including imaging guidance, catheter placement (initial)	Common antecedent or alternative: initial percutaneous biliary drainage with external catheter may be performed before or instead of permanent stent placement.
`74740`	Cholangiography, radiological supervision and interpretation	Often billed for intra-procedural cholangiographic imaging and interpretation when separately reportable.
`47540`	Removal or exchange of biliary stent, percutaneous	Used for subsequent procedures to remove or exchange an indwelling biliary stent placed previously.
`47538`	Percutaneous transhepatic placement of biliary catheter with dilation or balloon; with stent placement may be coded adjunctively when documented as separate distinct services	Performed in similar clinical workflow when duct dilation with a balloon or separate catheter placement are required; documentation must support separate reporting.

CPT 47490: Percutaneous Gallbladder Drainage and Catheter Placement

CPT-47531-PERCUTANEOUS-CHOLANGIOGRAPHY-INJECTION-IMAGE-GUIDED

CPT 47531: Percutaneous Cholangiography Injection, Image-Guided

CPT-47532-PERCUTANEOUS-CHOLANGIOGRAPHY-NEW-ACCESS-CONTRAST-INJECTION

CPT 47532: Percutaneous Cholangiography with New Access and Contrast Injection

CPT-47533-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-DRAINAGE-EXTERNAL

CPT 47533: Percutaneous Biliary Drainage, External

CPT-47534-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-DRAINAGE-IMAGE-GUIDED

CPT 47534: Percutaneous Image-Guided Biliary Drainage

CPT-47535-PERCUTANEOUS-CONVERSION-INTERNAL-EXTERNAL-BILIARY-DRAINAGE

CPT 47535: Percutaneous Conversion to Internal–External Biliary Drainage

CPT-47536-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-CATHETER-EXCHANGE-CONVERSION

CPT 47536: Percutaneous Biliary Drainage Catheter Exchange/Conversion

CPT-47537-BILIARY-CATHETER-REMOVAL-IMAGE-GUIDANCE-CHOLANGIOGRAPHY

CPT 47537: Image-Guided Biliary Drainage Catheter Removal

CPT-47538-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-STENT-PLACEMENT

CPT 47538: Percutaneous Biliary Stent Placement

CPT-47540-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-STENT-AND-DRAINAGE-CATHETER-PLACEMENT

CPT 47540: Percutaneous Biliary Stent and Drainage Catheter Placement

Showing 1–10 of 14

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Jul 29, 2026.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Jul 29, 2026.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Jul 29, 2026.

Published by

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

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.

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Coding Specifications

Modifier	Description	When to Use
`11`	Professional component	Use to indicate the typical, non-modified service when reporting provider’s primary service without unusual circumstances.
`22`	Increased procedural services	Use when work required is substantially greater than typically required (e.g., multiple complex crossings, prolonged procedure time).
`23`	Unusual anesthesia	Use if general anesthesia is required for medical reasons not typically required for the procedure.
`26`	Professional component	Use when reporting only the physician interpretation and report for radiology services separate from technical component.
`50`	Bilateral procedure	Generally not applicable to biliary stent placement but available if truly bilateral separate procedures are done.
`52`	Reduced services	Use when the procedure is partially reduced or not completed as planned but still reportable.
`53`	Discontinued procedure	Use when the procedure is terminated due to extenuating circumstances after anesthesia/sedation initiated.
`62`	Two surgeons	Use when two surgeons work together as primary surgeons (rare for percutaneous biliary stent placement).
`66`	Surgical team	Use when a surgical team approach is required for a complex case.
`78`	Return to OR for related procedure during postoperative period	Use when the patient requires an unplanned return to the operating room for a complication related to the initial procedure.
`80`	Assistant surgeon	Use when an assistant surgeon is documented as assisting during the procedure.
`AS`	Physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist services	Use to indicate services furnished by an assistant at surgery when allowed by payer rules.
`TC`	Technical component	Use when reporting only the technical component of the service (equipment, supplies, technologist) separate from physician interpretation.
`QK`	Medical direction of two, three, or four concurrent anesthesia procedures	Use if the physician medically directs multiple concurrently administered anesthesia services for the patient.

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
2080P0106X	Interventional Radiology	Primary specialty performing percutaneous biliary stent placement.
207RG0100X	Diagnostic Radiology	Radiologists with interventional practice who perform image guidance and interpretation.
363L00000X	Gastroenterology	Occasionally involved for multidisciplinary planning or combined approaches in patients with complex biliary disease.
207K00000X	General Surgery	Hepatobiliary surgeons may be involved in cases requiring surgical input or combined procedures.

Related Diagnoses

ICD-10 Code	Description	Clinical Relevance
`C22.1`	Intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma	Malignant obstruction of intrahepatic bile ducts often requires percutaneous stent placement to relieve obstruction.
`C24.0`	Extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma	Malignancy causing distal or hilar biliary obstruction addressed by percutaneous stenting when endoscopic access is not feasible.
`K83.1`	Obstruction of bile duct	Direct indication for biliary decompression and stent placement.
`K83.0`	Cholangitis	Acute or recurrent infection may require biliary drainage and stenting to relieve obstruction and facilitate resolution.
`K80.10`	Calculus of bile duct with obstruction, without cholangitis	Choledocholithiasis causing obstructive symptoms that may be managed with stent placement if stone removal is not immediately feasible.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`47539`	Placement of biliary stent via new percutaneous transhepatic access; without separate catheter for external drainage	Primary procedure: percutaneous biliary stent placement through a new percutaneous access without leaving an external drain.
`47531`	Percutaneous biliary drainage, including imaging guidance, catheter placement (initial)	Common antecedent or alternative: initial percutaneous biliary drainage with external catheter may be performed before or instead of permanent stent placement.
`74740`	Cholangiography, radiological supervision and interpretation	Often billed for intra-procedural cholangiographic imaging and interpretation when separately reportable.
`47540`	Removal or exchange of biliary stent, percutaneous	Used for subsequent procedures to remove or exchange an indwelling biliary stent placed previously.
`47538`	Percutaneous transhepatic placement of biliary catheter with dilation or balloon; with stent placement may be coded adjunctively when documented as separate distinct services	Performed in similar clinical workflow when duct dilation with a balloon or separate catheter placement are required; documentation must support separate reporting.

CPT 47490: Percutaneous Gallbladder Drainage and Catheter Placement

CPT-47531-PERCUTANEOUS-CHOLANGIOGRAPHY-INJECTION-IMAGE-GUIDED

CPT 47531: Percutaneous Cholangiography Injection, Image-Guided

CPT-47532-PERCUTANEOUS-CHOLANGIOGRAPHY-NEW-ACCESS-CONTRAST-INJECTION

CPT 47532: Percutaneous Cholangiography with New Access and Contrast Injection

CPT-47533-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-DRAINAGE-EXTERNAL

CPT 47533: Percutaneous Biliary Drainage, External

CPT-47534-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-DRAINAGE-IMAGE-GUIDED

CPT 47534: Percutaneous Image-Guided Biliary Drainage

CPT-47535-PERCUTANEOUS-CONVERSION-INTERNAL-EXTERNAL-BILIARY-DRAINAGE

CPT 47535: Percutaneous Conversion to Internal–External Biliary Drainage

CPT-47536-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-CATHETER-EXCHANGE-CONVERSION

CPT 47536: Percutaneous Biliary Drainage Catheter Exchange/Conversion

CPT-47537-BILIARY-CATHETER-REMOVAL-IMAGE-GUIDANCE-CHOLANGIOGRAPHY

CPT 47537: Image-Guided Biliary Drainage Catheter Removal

CPT-47538-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-STENT-PLACEMENT

CPT 47538: Percutaneous Biliary Stent Placement

CPT-47540-PERCUTANEOUS-BILIARY-STENT-AND-DRAINAGE-CATHETER-PLACEMENT

CPT 47540: Percutaneous Biliary Stent and Drainage Catheter Placement

Showing 1–10 of 14

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Jul 29, 2026.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Jul 29, 2026.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Jul 29, 2026.

Published by

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

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CPT 47539: Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Stent Placement

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Billing Code Overview

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CPT 47539: Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Stent Placement

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Billing Code Overview

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Coding Specifications

Related Diagnoses

Related CPT Codes

Related Codes

References

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Coding Specifications

Related Diagnoses

Related CPT Codes

Related Codes

References

CPT 47539: Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Stent Placement

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Billing Code Overview

CPT 47539: Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Stent Placement

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Billing Code Overview

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Coding Specifications

Related Diagnoses

Related CPT Codes

Related Codes

What clinical procedure does CPT 47539 represent?

Which modifiers are commonly reported with CPT 47539 and when should they be considered?

What other CPT codes are commonly billed in conjunction with or instead of 47539?

What diagnoses or clinical scenarios are associated with use of CPT 47539?

Where is CPT 47539 typically performed and which specialties and payers are most relevant?

References

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Coding Specifications

Related Diagnoses

Related CPT Codes

Related Codes

What clinical procedure does CPT 47539 represent?

Which modifiers are commonly reported with CPT 47539 and when should they be considered?

What other CPT codes are commonly billed in conjunction with or instead of 47539?

What diagnoses or clinical scenarios are associated with use of CPT 47539?

Where is CPT 47539 typically performed and which specialties and payers are most relevant?

References