0T170KD
Bypass Ureter, Left to Cutaneous with Nonautologous Tissue Substitute, Open Approach
Procedural Specifications
| Clinical Axis | Detail Definition |
|---|---|
| Section | 0 Medical and Surgical |
| Body System | T Urinary System |
| Operation | 1 Bypass |
| Body Part | 7 Ureter, Left |
| Approach | 0 Open |
| Device | K Nonautologous Tissue Substitute |
| Qualifier | D Cutaneous |
Operation Definition
Altering the route of passage of the contents of a tubular body part
Procedure Overview
Bypass procedures in the urinary system reroute the flow of urine around a damaged, obstructed, or diseased segment so it can drain through a new path instead. Common examples include an ileal conduit or continent urinary diversion after bladder removal, a ureteroneocystostomy that reconnects a ureter to the bladder at a new site, or a yeloureteral bypass for a blocked ureteropelvic junction. These operations are performed when a tumor, stricture, chronic obstruction, or a failed bladder makes normal drainage unsafe, since backed-up urine can damage the kidneys or cause repeated infections.
Patients typically encounter these procedures alongside cancer treatment, after trauma, or when a congenital narrowing has caused progressive kidney damage. The new pathway may be temporary, to protect a healing repair, or permanent, when the original structure cannot be salvaged.
Anatomy & Axis Detail
Ureter, Left
The left ureter transports urine from the kidney pelvis to the bladder along a course adjacent to the sigmoid colon and left iliac vessels, and it is bypassed when disease, scarring, or prior treatment has rendered a segment permanently obstructed or nonfunctional. Rather than resecting and reconnecting the ureter directly, bypass establishes a new route for urine around the compromised area, which may use bowel, an alternate ureteral segment, or a cutaneous diversion. This approach preserves renal drainage in situations where direct repair would be technically infeasible or prone to recurrent stricture. The specific structure used to complete the new connection determines the qualifier value, and the left-sided anatomy, particularly its relationship to the descending colon, factors into surgical planning.
Approach: Open
Open approach means the surgeon cuts through skin, mucous membrane, or other tissue layers to physically expose the target site to view before performing the procedure. It gives direct visualization and hands-on access, distinguishing it from Percutaneous approaches where instruments pass through a small puncture without exposing the site. Open is typical for procedures needing wide access, such as most laparotomies.
Device: Nonautologous Tissue Substitute
Nonautologous Tissue Substitute refers to biologic material sourced from a donor or another species, such as an allograft or xenograft, used to replace a body part. It differs from Autologous Tissue Substitute by tissue origin outside the patient's own body, and from Synthetic Substitute by being biologic rather than manufactured material.
Qualifier: Cutaneous
This qualifier indicates that a bypass or fistula procedure terminates at the skin surface rather than at another internal structure, such as when bowel contents are diverted externally. It contrasts with the internal destination qualifiers, like Stomach or Jejunum, which route the bypass to another digestive organ instead.
Coding & Documentation
Coders assign Bypass when documentation confirms a new route was created "from" one urinary structure "to" another (or to the skin, as in a conduit), rather than a repair of the existing channel. The operative note must name both the bypass origin and the qualifier destination, since the seventh-character qualifier changes with the target (bladder, ileum, cutaneous, etc.). A frequent error is coding Bypass when the surgeon actually performed Repair or Dilation of an existing passage rather than constructing an alternate route; another is missing the correct device value when a stent or conduit segment is left in place.
