Anesthesia services for total knee arthroplasty, right, on a 65-year-old normally healthy female patient. Which code applies?

• A. 01402-P1
• B. 00320-P1
• C. 00326-P1
• D. 99140

Answer: (A)

The main idea is to match the anesthesia code to both the surgical procedure and the patient’s ASA status. For a total knee arthroplasty, you use the anesthesia code that represents knee joint procedures, and you attach the modifier for a normal, healthy patient (ASA I). The patient here is 65 and normally healthy, so the appropriate modifier is P1. That makes the correct code 01402-P1, which exactly reflects anesthesia for a knee joint procedure in a normal patient.

The other options don’t fit because they don’t describe the knee arthroplasty procedure, or they describe a sedation service rather than a full anesthesia service appropriate for major surgery.