ICD-10-PCS Billable Code

0QB23ZX

Excision Pelvic Bone, Right to Diagnostic with No Device, Percutaneous Approach

Procedural Specifications

Clinical Axis Detail Definition
Section0 Medical and Surgical
Body SystemQ Lower Bones
OperationB Excision
Body Part2 Pelvic Bone, Right
Approach3 Percutaneous
DeviceZ No Device
QualifierX Diagnostic

Operation Definition

Cutting out or off, without replacement, a portion of a body part

Procedure Overview

Excision procedures on the lower bones remove a portion of a bone in the pelvis, hip, leg, ankle, or foot without replacing what's taken out. Surgeons perform these when a piece of bone needs to come out but the rest of the bone can stay in place - trimming a bone spur pressing on a nerve, taking a wedge sample from a suspicious lesion to send for biopsy, or shaving down a prominent area that's causing pain or skin breakdown.

Because only part of the bone is involved, the surrounding structure typically remains functional. Recovery often centers on protecting the area while it heals rather than rebuilding lost function, though larger excisions near a joint may need a period of limited weight-bearing.

Anatomy & Axis Detail

Pelvic Bone, Right

The right pelvic bone, formed by the fused ilium, ischium, and pubis, is excised in part most often to obtain a bone marrow or tumor biopsy from the iliac crest, to harvest autologous bone graft for use elsewhere in the body, or to remove a localized lesion such as an osteochondroma or area of infection. The iliac crest in particular is a favored biopsy and graft donor site because it offers accessible cortical and cancellous bone without disrupting a weight-bearing joint surface. Because the pelvis forms part of the ring that transmits load between the spine and lower extremities, and because major vessels and nerves course along its inner and outer surfaces, the surgeon must carefully plan the excision site to avoid destabilizing the pelvic ring or injuring structures such as the femoral or sciatic nerve. Laterality and the specific pelvic subregion should be documented precisely.

Approach: Percutaneous

Percutaneous describes entry by needle or instrument puncture through the skin or mucous membrane to reach the site of the procedure, without cutting the tissue open or using a visualizing scope. It differs from Open in that the site itself is never exposed, and from Percutaneous Endoscopic in that no endoscope is used to see internal structures. Common examples include needle biopsies and injections.

Qualifier: Diagnostic

Applied chiefly to Excision, this qualifier marks that tissue was removed specifically for diagnostic purposes, i.e., a biopsy intended for pathologic evaluation rather than to treat disease. It distinguishes biopsy-type excisions from therapeutic excisions of the same body part, which are coded without this qualifier even though the physical technique may be identical.

Coding & Documentation

Assign an excision code when the operative note describes cutting out a discrete portion of a lower bone - an exostosis, an osteophyte, a bone biopsy specimen, or margins around a tumor - without inserting a device or graft to replace the missing bone. The note should specify the bone and the general region (e.g., femoral neck, calcaneus) since Lower Bones is subdivided by specific bone. A common assignment error is coding excision when the surgeon actually removed the entire bone or a full bony process, which is resection; another is missing that a biopsy taken via excisional technique still codes as excision even though it's diagnostic rather than therapeutic.

Commonly Confused With

ExtirpationExcision is frequently confused with Extirpation, which applies to abnormal solid material like sequestered bone fragments or debris rather than a cut portion of otherwise viable bone.
ResectionIt's also confused with Resection, used when an entire bone or bony process is taken rather than just a part of it, and with Detachment, which applies specifically to amputation-type removal of a limb portion.