Cataract Extraction – Coding in Brief
Extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) is a category of eye surgery in which the lens of the eye is removed while the elastic capsule that covers the lens is left partially intact to allow implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL). This approach is contrasted with intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE), an older procedure in which the surgeon removed the complete lens within its capsule and left the eye aphakic (without a lens). The patient’s vision was corrected after intracapsular extraction by extremely thick eyeglasses or by contact lenses.
There are two major types of ECCE:
- Manual expression, in which the lens is removed through an incision made in the cornea or the sclera of the eye; and
- Phacoemulsification, in which the lens is broken into fragments inside the capsule by ultrasound energy and removed by aspiration.
Code 66983 Intracapsular cataract extraction with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis (1 stage procedure) includes:
- Intracapsular cataract extraction and the insertion of the lens prosthesis.
- The natural lens is removed, leaving in place the back of the capsule that holds the lens in place during an extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE).
The procedure is reported 66984 which describes Extracapsular cataract removal with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis (1 stage procedure), manual or mechanical technique (Eg, irrigation and aspiration or phacoemulsification).
Report 66982 Extracapsular cataract removal with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis (1-stage procedure), manual or mechanical technique (eg, irrigation and aspiration or phacoemulsification), complex, requiring devices or techniques not generally used in routine cataract surgery (Eg, iris expansion device, suture support for intraocular lens, or primary posterior capsulorrhexis) or performed on patients in the amblyogenic developmental stage for a complex Extracapsular Cataract Extraction, which involves devices and techniques not used in routine ECCE. Both Extracapsular cataract extraction procedures include the insertion of the lens prosthesis.