The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued full guidance to the NHS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on Stent insertion for bleeding oesophageal varices.
It replaces the previous guidance on stent insertion for bleeding oesophageal varices (Interventional Procedures Guidance no. 265 June 2008).
People who drink heavily or who have hepatitis C may develop liver cirrhosis (scarring). This may cause bleeding arising from swollen veins in the gullet (oesophagus), which is potentially life threatening. This procedure involves temporary insertion of a tube-shaped mesh covered in plastic (called a stent) into the oesophagus. The stent is expanded to the width of the gullet so that it presses against the veins with the aim of stopping the bleeding. The stent is removed within 2 weeks.
One of the following OPCS-4 codes is selected as appropriate:
G21.5 Insertion of stent into oesophagus NEC
G15.4 Fibreoptic endoscopic insertion of tubal prosthesis into oesophagus
G15.6 Fibreoptic endoscopic insertion of expanding metal stent into oesophagus NEC
G15.7 Fibreoptic endoscopic insertion of expanding covered metal stent into oesophagus
The NHS Classifications Service of NHS Connecting for Health is the central definitive source for clinical coding guidance and determines the coding standards associated with the classifications (OPCS-4 and ICD-10) to be used across the NHS. The NHS Classifications Service and NICE work collaboratively to ensure the most appropriate classification codes are provided. www.connectingforhealth.co.uk/clinicalcoding