CPT 10121

“What constitutes the difference between CPT 10120 and CPT 10121 – simple subcutaneous versus complicated subcutaneous foreign body removal? Take for example a patient is seen in the clinic with a splinter that I was unable to retrieve simply. Instead, it required local anesthesia and deep probing but no incision or suturing. I removed a 2 centimeter wood splinter. It was subcutaneous, it was “more complicated” than a typical splinter to retrieve (needing local and more than usual probing) yet really wasn’t THAT complicated. How do you define complicated in this case? RVU values for CPT 10121 versus CPT 10120 seem to indicate there are very real differences between the two codes.”