Summary & Overview
HCPCS C1773: Insertable Retrieval Device for Fractured Medical Devices
HCPCS Level II code C1773 designates an insertable retrieval device used to remove fractured medical devices during minimally invasive or image-guided procedures. This device-level code matters nationally because device fracture retrieval can be clinically urgent, resource-intensive, and may affect device failure management, procedural coding, and hospital supply costs. Proper coding ensures device costs are captured and supports clinical documentation for complication management.
Key payers referenced in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a national perspective on coding context, typical sites of service, and payer coverage patterns where available. The publication outlines benchmarks for device billing when present, common clinical scenarios that prompt use of a retrieval device, and policy considerations relevant to device-supply coding under hospital and ambulatory payment frameworks.
The report also describes practical documentation elements to support billing and review: device description, procedural context (endovascular or interventional retrieval), and linkage to the primary procedure note. Data not available in the input are identified where applicable. This summary provides clinicians, coding professionals, and policy analysts with an executive-level view of HCPCS Level II code C1773 and what to expect when this device code appears on a service line.
Billing Code Overview
HCPCS Level II code C1773 describes a retrieval device, insertable, used to retrieve fractured medical devices from within the body. This code represents a specialized intraprocedural instrument designed for endovascular or interventional retrieval of device fragments.
Service type: Device retrieval procedure support — equipment used during minimally invasive or image-guided retrieval procedures.
Typical site of service: Hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient (ambulatory surgery), or interventional radiology suite, depending on clinical setting and procedure complexity.
Data not available in the input.
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A typical patient is an adult who presents after a fracture or separation of an indwelling medical device component (for example, a central venous catheter tip, port fragment, or fractured endovascular stent/shunt component) that has migrated intravascularly or into a vascular-accessible location. The patient often has symptoms such as new onset chest pain, palpitations, dyspnea, or device malfunction (for example inability to infuse or withdraw). Imaging (chest radiograph, fluoroscopy, or CT) demonstrates the retained/fractured device fragment.
The clinical workflow involves vascular access (commonly via femoral or jugular vein) under conscious sedation or monitored anesthesia care. Under fluoroscopic guidance, an interventional radiologist, interventional cardiologist, or vascular surgeon advances a guidewire and appropriate sheath to the fragment location and deploys a retrieval device (coded as C1773) to snare or engage the fractured device. Retrieval is confirmed with fluoroscopy. Post-retrieval imaging and wound/site care are performed; the patient is observed for procedure-related complications such as arrhythmia, vessel injury, embolization, or bleeding. Documentation includes indication, device type retrieved, access site, sedation/ anesthesia used, retrieval device identifier, fluoroscopy time, materials used, and any complications.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
22 |