ICD-10-PCS Billable Code

0MC74ZZ

Extirpation Hand Bursa and Ligament, Right to No Qualifier with No Device, Percutaneous Endoscopic Approach

Procedural Specifications

Clinical Axis Detail Definition
Section0 Medical and Surgical
Body SystemM Bursae and Ligaments
OperationC Extirpation
Body Part7 Hand Bursa and Ligament, Right
Approach4 Percutaneous Endoscopic
DeviceZ No Device
QualifierZ No Qualifier

Operation Definition

Taking or cutting out solid matter from a body part

Procedure Overview

Extirpation procedures take or cut out solid matter that does not belong in a bursa or ligament, such as calcified deposits, loose bodies, blood clots, or foreign material. Unlike excision, the material removed is abnormal rather than being a piece of the ligament or bursa itself. A common scenario is removal of calcific deposits from a chronically inflamed bursa, sometimes called calcific bursitis, or clearing a hematoma that has formed within a ligament sheath after injury.

These procedures are often performed when conservative treatment or drainage alone has failed to resolve symptoms caused by the trapped material. The approach may be open, arthroscopic, or through a small percutaneous access depending on the size and location of the deposit.

By removing the obstructing or irritating material, extirpation aims to relieve pain and restore normal movement without removing any of the surrounding healthy ligament or bursa tissue.

Anatomy & Axis Detail

Hand Bursa and Ligament, Right

On the right hand, the bursa and ligament grouping covers the small synovial cushions around the metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joints together with the collateral and volar plate ligaments that keep the fingers tracking properly during grip. Extirpation is coded when solid material such as a calcific nodule, foreign body, or degenerated ligament fragment is removed from one of these structures without excising the ligament itself. Hand bursae are frequently affected by repetitive friction or inflammatory arthritis, which can deposit fibrinous or calcified debris that limits finger motion. Given the density of tendons and neurovascular bundles running through the hand, the procedure demands meticulous dissection under magnification, and the operative note should identify the specific digit or ligament group involved to distinguish it from broader hand procedures.

Approach: Percutaneous Endoscopic

Percutaneous Endoscopic combines a puncture through skin or mucous membrane with insertion of an endoscope to visualize the procedure internally, as in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. It is distinguished from plain Percutaneous by the presence of scope-guided visualization, and from Via Natural or Artificial Opening Endoscopic by its route being a new puncture rather than an existing orifice or stoma.

Coding & Documentation

The documentation should identify the removed material as abnormal solid matter, such as calcium deposits, debris, or a clot, rather than native tissue. Coders should look for terms like removal, debris clearance, or evacuation of calcification rather than excision or resection language.

A common mistake is defaulting to Excision whenever tissue is cut, without checking whether what was actually removed was foreign or abnormal material versus a piece of the ligament or bursa itself. When both native tissue and abnormal material are removed in the same operative episode, coders must determine whether one procedure was incidental to the other or whether both should be captured.

Commonly Confused With

ExcisionExtirpation is commonly confused with Excision, with the deciding factor being whether the removed material is normal anatomic tissue or abnormal matter that does not belong there.
DrainageIt also differs from Drainage, which removes fluid or gas rather than solid material, though both procedures can be performed on the same inflamed bursa during a single encounter.