Summary & Overview
CPT 50700: Surgical Repair of Ureteral Stricture or Injury
CPT code 50700 represents surgical repair of a narrowed, injured, or affected portion of a ureter. The code captures operative efforts to restore ureteral continuity or patency and is commonly used in urologic and general surgery settings. Nationally, accurate coding for ureteral repair is important for case classification, resource use assessment, and quality monitoring of surgical urologic care.
Key payers in this coverage analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find an overview of clinical context for when ureteral repair is billed, typical sites of service, and commonly observed payer coverage patterns. The publication also outlines benchmark metrics and policy considerations related to coding clarity, documentation expectations, and potential billing implications tied to surgical complexity.
This summary provides clinicians, coding professionals, and policy analysts with concise guidance on the clinical meaning of CPT code 50700, central themes in payer relationships, and the topics addressed in the full report, including benchmarks, policy updates, and operational considerations for accurate claim submission.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 50700 describes a surgical procedure to repair a narrowed, injured, or otherwise affected portion of a ureter. This procedure involves direct surgical correction of ureteral pathology to restore patency and function.
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Service type: Surgical repair of the ureter
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Typical site of service: Hospital operating room or ambulatory surgery center
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A 52-year-old female presents with progressive right-sided flank pain, recurrent urinary tract infections, and imaging showing a focal mid-ureteral stricture with proximal hydroureteronephrosis. Endoscopic attempts at dilation and stenting provided temporary relief but recurrent obstruction persists with declining renal scan split function. The urology team elects to perform a ureteral repair to excise the narrowed segment and perform a primary uretero-ureterostomy.
Preoperative workflow includes history and physical, renal function labs (serum creatinine, eGFR), urine culture, cross-sectional imaging (CT urogram or MR urogram) and nuclear renal scan as indicated. Intraoperative steps typically involve general anesthesia, ureteral identification, mobilization, excision of the diseased segment, spatulated anastomosis over a ureteral stent (double-J), hemostasis, and possibly placement of a surgical drain. Postoperative care includes pain control, monitoring urine output and renal function, antibiotic management if infected, follow-up imaging or stent removal at 4–6 weeks, and monitoring for complications (leak, stricture recurrence, infection). Typical site of service is an inpatient or ambulatory surgical center depending on patient comorbidity and procedural complexity. Service type: surgical urologic procedure with intraoperative general anesthesia.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
26 | Professional component | Use when reporting only the physician’s professional portion of a service when separated from technical component. |