ICD-10-PCS Billable Code

0QB63ZZ

Excision Upper Femur, Right to No Qualifier with No Device, Percutaneous Approach

Procedural Specifications

Clinical Axis Detail Definition
Section0 Medical and Surgical
Body SystemQ Lower Bones
OperationB Excision
Body Part6 Upper Femur, Right
Approach3 Percutaneous
DeviceZ No Device
QualifierZ No Qualifier

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

Upper Femur, Right

The upper (proximal) right femur includes the femoral head, neck, and greater and lesser trochanters, the region that forms the ball of the hip joint and anchors the hip abductor and rotator muscles. Excision of a portion of this segment is performed for lesions like avascular necrosis-related sequestrum, osteochondroma, or infected bone in osteomyelitis, and sometimes to recontour the femoral neck for impingement. Because this area is a common site for stress fractures and metastatic deposits, surgeons must preserve the retinacular vessels supplying the femoral head whenever possible to avoid precipitating avascular necrosis. Documentation should distinguish excision of a discrete lesion or bone fragment from more extensive removal that approaches resection, and specify whether the procedure was open or percutaneous.

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.

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.