CPT 36904 Percutaneous transluminal mechanical thrombectomy and/or infusion for thrombolysis, dialysis circuit, any method, including all imaging and radiological supervision and interpretation, diagnostic angiography, fluoroscopic guidance, catheter placement, and intraprocedural pharmacological thrombolytic injection(s)

Documentation and Coding Notes

AdSense readiness coding note: CPT 36904 should be treated as an educational starting point, not a final billing instruction. For percutaneous transluminal mechanical thrombectomy and/or infusion for thrombolysis, dialysis circuit, any method, including all imaging and radiological supervision and interpretation, diagnostic angiography, fluoroscopic guidance, catheter placement, and intraprocedural pharmacological thrombolytic injection(s), the operative note or procedure note should clearly support the approach, anatomic site, laterality when relevant, clinical indication, and any separately reportable services.

Before submitting a claim or logging the case, compare CPT 36904 with adjacent codes in the same family, confirm current AMA CPT language, check CMS/NCCI edits, and verify payer-specific bundling rules. Modifier use should be tied to documentation rather than added only to bypass an edit.

Common audit checks for interventional radiology cases include whether the documented work matches the code descriptor, whether add-on services are separately supported, whether a global period applies, and whether ICD-10 diagnosis pairing supports medical necessity.