ICD-10-PCS Billable Code

0QD10ZZ

Extraction Sacrum to No Qualifier with No Device, Open Approach

Procedural Specifications

Clinical Axis Detail Definition
Section0 Medical and Surgical
Body SystemQ Lower Bones
OperationD Extraction
Body Part1 Sacrum
Approach0 Open
DeviceZ No Device
QualifierZ No Qualifier

Operation Definition

Pulling or stripping out or off all or a portion of a body part by the use of force

Procedure Overview

Extraction in the lower bones describes pulling or stripping out bone material using force, rather than cutting it free. This root operation is less common for bone than for other tissues, but it applies when a fragment or structure is physically pulled away rather than dissected out - for example, forcibly removing a broken segment during hardware revision or manually stripping periosteal tissue attached to bone.

These procedures are usually part of a larger reconstructive or trauma-related case, addressing damage that has already occurred rather than treating disease directly.

Anatomy & Axis Detail

Sacrum

The sacrum is the large, triangular bone formed by fused vertebral segments that anchors the spine to the pelvis and transmits body weight into the pelvic ring. It sits deep within the pelvis, bordered by the sacral nerve roots, presacral vessels, and rectum, which makes any instrumentation technically demanding. Extraction here typically refers to pulling out fragmented or diseased sacral bone without a cutting instrument, such as percutaneous core biopsy of a sacral mass to characterize a chordoma, metastasis, or infection, or removal of loose bony fragments. Image guidance, usually CT, is standard given the depth and proximity to critical neurovascular structures. As a single fused bone rather than a paired structure, the sacrum is coded without laterality.

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.

Coding & Documentation

Coders should assign extraction only when the documentation explicitly describes forceful pulling or stripping, not routine cutting. This distinction matters because the same-looking removal of a bone piece can be excision, extirpation, or extraction depending on the technique the surgeon actually used, and operative notes don't always use precise root-operation language. When the method is ambiguous, query the physician rather than defaulting to the more familiar excision code - this is the most common error in this family, since extraction cases in bone are relatively rare and easy to miscode as something more routine.

Commonly Confused With

ExcisionExtraction is distinguished from Excision by the use of force to pull or strip tissue rather than a cutting instrument to separate it, and from Extirpation by the fact that the material being removed may still be attached rather than already loose or solid debris.
ReleaseIt's also worth distinguishing from Release, which frees a body part from an abnormal constraint rather than removing tissue.