CPT 61322 Craniectomy, decompressive, with or without duraplasty, for treatment of intracranial hypertension, without evacuation of associated intraparenchymal hematoma; without lobectomy

Documentation and Coding Notes

AdSense readiness coding note: CPT 61322 should be treated as an educational starting point, not a final billing instruction. For craniectomy, decompressive, with or without duraplasty, for treatment of intracranial hypertension, without evacuation of associated intraparenchymal hematoma; without lobectomy, 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 61322 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 neurosurgery 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.