ICD-10-PCS Billable Code

0LQ14ZZ

Repair Shoulder Tendon, Right to No Qualifier with No Device, Percutaneous Endoscopic Approach

Procedural Specifications

Clinical Axis Detail Definition
Section0 Medical and Surgical
Body SystemL Tendons
OperationQ Repair
Body Part1 Shoulder Tendon, Right
Approach4 Percutaneous Endoscopic
DeviceZ No Device
QualifierZ No Qualifier

Operation Definition

Restoring, to the extent possible, a body part to its normal anatomic structure and function

Procedure Overview

Repair procedures on tendons address damage from lacerations, partial tears, or defects that need to be closed or restored using suture or local tissue, without replacing the tendon with graft material or moving it to a new anatomic position. This is the default root operation for tendon surgery whenever no more specific objective, such as replacement, reposition, or resection, applies. A classic example is suturing a lacerated flexor tendon in the hand after a knife injury, or closing a partial tear in the Achilles tendon.

These procedures are performed to restore a tendon's ability to transmit muscle force to bone, which is essential for normal joint movement. Left unrepaired, a torn or lacerated tendon can lead to permanent loss of motion or strength in the affected limb, so timely repair is often emphasized, particularly for tendons in the hand and wrist where scarring and adhesions can quickly limit the surgical window.

Anatomy & Axis Detail

Shoulder Tendon, Right

The right shoulder tendon group includes the rotator cuff tendons-supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis-along with the long head of the biceps tendon, all of which are essential to shoulder stability and overhead motion. Repair is performed for tears resulting from degeneration, impingement, or acute trauma, and involves reapproximating torn tendon edges or reattaching a tendon to bone using sutures, without the use of synthetic graft material, which would instead be classified as supplement. Because rotator cuff pathology is so common and often involves more than one tendon, the operative note must specify which tendon or tendons were repaired to reflect the actual work performed. The subacromial space and biceps groove are frequently involved in the surgical approach to this region.

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

Coders assign a Repair code when the documentation describes suturing, direct closure, or similar restoration of tendon continuity using the patient's own tissue, without a graft substituting for missing tendon substance. The operative note should specify which tendon and where along its course the repair occurred, since ICD-10-PCS body part values distinguish tendons by region rather than by naming every individual tendon.

The most common assignment error is choosing Repair by default without first ruling out a more specific root operation; if the surgeon used graft material to bridge a tendon gap, Replacement is more accurate, and if the tendon was cut and moved to a different location for realignment, Reposition applies instead. Another frequent miss is failing to code a separate procedure when Repair is done as an unplanned part of a more complex operation, such as fixing an incidental tendon nick during another surgery.

Commonly Confused With

RepositionRepair is most often confused with Reposition, since both can involve suturing a tendon; the distinguishing factor is intent, Repair restores a damaged tendon to its own anatomic position, while Reposition moves a tendon, often intact, to a different location such as during a tendon transfer for function restoration.
ReplacementIt is also confused with Replacement when a graft is used, and with Supplement when material is added to reinforce a tendon rather than close a defect in it.