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SEER Inquiry System - Report
Produced: 07/23/2025 2:03 PM
Question 20031016
Inquiry Details
References:
#1: SEER App F,2003+ Surg Codes, F-16. January 2003
#2: 2004 SEER Manual, C-375
Question:
Surgery of Primary Site--Head & Neck: Will you clarify the use of code 20 [local tumor excision, NOS] versus code 27 [excisional biopsy] when there is no clinical description of a tumor and the pathology report describes more than one specimen from surgery performed on the vocal cords? See discussion.
Discussion:
Specimen A is labeled vocal cord biopsy. Specimen B is labeled left true vocal cord nodule. For specimen B the gross portion of the pathology report describes a .5 cm tissue portion. Is the term "nodule" enough information to code this as an excision? Can we code site specific surgery to code 20 or 27?
Answer:
Code 20 [local tumor excision, NOS] based on information from the size and description of the specimen.
