Highmark Medicare Services

12102, 12202, 12302

MAC Part A & B

L27540

Trigger Point Injections

L27540

CPT codes, descriptions and other data only are copyright 2007 American Medical Association (or such other date of publication of CPT). All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Clauses Apply. Current Dental Terminology, (CDT) (including procedure codes, nomenclature, descriptors and other data contained therein) is copyright by the American Dental Association. © 2002, 2004 American Dental Association. All rights reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS apply.

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, Section 1862(a)(1)(A) states that no Medicare payment shall be made for items or services which are not reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of illness or injury.

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, Section 1862(a)(7). This section excludes routine physical examinations.

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, Section 1833(e) states that no payment shall be made to any provider for any claim that lacks the necessary information to process the claim.

CMS Online Manual Pub. 100-3, Chapter 1, Section 30.3 is specific to the non-coverage of acupuncture.

CMS Online Manual Pub. 100-3, Chapter 1, Section 150.7 is specific to the non-coverage of prolotherapy, joint sclerotherapy, and ligamentous injections with sclerosing agents.

Maryland, District of Columbia, Delaware

Central Office

For services performed on or after 07/11/2008

N/A

For services performed on or after N/A

N/A

Compliance with the provisions in this policy may be monitored and addressed through post payment data analysis and subsequent medical review audits.

Trigger point injection is one of many modalities utilized in the management of chronic pain. Myofascial trigger points are self-sustaining hyperirritative foci that may occur in any skeletal muscle in response to strain produced by acute or chronic overload. These trigger points produce a referred pain pattern characteristic for that individual muscle. Each pattern becomes part of a single muscle myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) and each of these single muscle syndromes is responsive to appropriate treatment, which includes injection therapy. Injection is achieved with needle insertion and the administration of agents, such as local anesthetics, steroids and/or local inflammatory drugs.

The diagnosis of trigger points requires a detailed history and thorough physical examination. The following clinical symptoms may be present when making the diagnosis:

• History of onset of the painful condition and its presumed cause (e.g., injury or sprain)
• Distribution pattern of pain consistent with the referral pattern of trigger points
• Range of motion restriction
• Muscular deconditioning in the affected area
• Focal tenderness of a trigger point
• Palpable taut band of muscle in which trigger point is located
• Local taut response to snapping palpation
• Reproduction of referred pain pattern upon stimulation of trigger point

The goal is to treat the cause of the pain and not just the symptom of pain.

Indications

After myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is established, trigger point injection may be indicated when noninvasive medical management is unsuccessful (e.g., analgesics, passive physical therapy, ultrasound, range of motion and active exercises); as a bridging therapy to relieve pain while other treatments are also initiated, such as medication or physical therapy; or as a single therapeutic maneuver. The logic behind such therapeutic decision making should be obvious in the medical record and available upon Contractor request. Additionally, trigger point injection is indicated when joint movement is mechanically blocked as is the case of the coccygeus muscle.

Limitations

Acupuncture is not a covered service, even if provided for the treatment of an established trigger point. Use of acupuncture needles and/or the passage of electrical current through these needles is not covered (whether an acupuncturist or other provider renders the service).

Medicare does not cover Prolotherapy. Its billing under the trigger point injection code is a misrepresentation of the actual service rendered.

Only one code from 20552 or 20553 should be reported on any particular day, no matter how many sites or regions are injected.

When a given site is injected, it will be considered one injection service, regardless of the number of injections administered.

Doctor Office Visits

Contractors may specify Bill Types to help providers identify those Bill Types typically used to report this service. Absence of a Bill Type does not guarantee that the policy does not apply to that Bill Type. Complete absence of all Bill Types indicates that coverage is not influenced by Bill Type and the policy should be assumed to apply equally to all claims.

Contractors may specify Revenue Codes to help providers identify those Revenue Codes typically used to report this service. In most instances Revenue Codes are purely advisory; unless specified in the policy services reported under other Revenue Codes are equally subject to this coverage determination. Complete absence of all Revenue Codes indicates that coverage is not influenced by Revenue Code and the policy should be assumed to apply equally to all Revenue Codes.

Italicized and/or quoted material is excerpted from the American Medical Association, Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes.

It is the provider’s responsibility to select codes carried out to the highest level of specificity and selected from the ICD-9-CM code book appropriate to the year in which the service is rendered for the claim(s) submitted.

N/A

All those not listed under the “ICD-9 Codes that Support Medical Necessity” section of this policy.

Conditions that are not listed in the "ICD-9-CM Codes that Support Medical Necessity" section of this policy.

1. All documentation must be maintained in the patient’s medical record and available to the contractor upon request.
2. Every page of the record must be legible and include appropriate patient identification information (e.g., complete name, dates of service(s)). The record must include the physician or non-physician practitioner responsible for and providing the care of the patient.
3. The submitted medical record should support the use of the selected ICD-9-CM code(s). The submitted CPT/HCPCS code should describe the service performed.
4. For the treatment of established trigger points, the patient’s medical record must have:
   • Documentation of the evaluation/ process of arriving at the diagnosis of the trigger point in an individual muscle should be clearly documented in the patient’s medical record
   • The reason for the trigger point injection, and whether it is being used as an initial or subsequent treatment for myofascial pain, as well as the appropriate diagnosis code should be documented.

In accordance with CMS Ruling 95-1 (V), utilization of these services should be consistent with locally acceptable standards of practice.

It is expected that trigger point injections would not usually be performed more often than three sessions in a three month period. If trigger point injections are performed more than three sessions in a three month period, the reason for repeated performance and the substances injected should be evident in the medical record and available to the Contractor upon request.

This contractor may request records when it is apparent that patients are requiring a significant number of injections to manage their pain.

Documentation in the medical record must support the medical necessity and frequency of the trigger point injection(s).

Ferrante F.M., Kaufman A.G., Dunbar S.A., Cain C.F., Cherukuri S.; Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block For The Treatment Of Myofascial Pain Of The Head, Neck, And Shoulders: Reg Anesth Pain Med 1998 Jan-Feb;23(1):30-6.

Wittenberg R.H., Steffen R., Ludwig J.; Injection Treatment Of Non-Radicular Lumbalgia: Orthopade 1997 Jun;26(6):544-52

Hong C.Z., Hsueh T.C.; Difference In Pain Relief After Trigger Point Injections In Myofascial Pain Patients With And Without Fibromyalgia: Arch Phys Med Rehabil 1996 Nov;77(11):1161-6.

Hong C.Z.; Lidocaine Injection Versus Dry Needling To Myofascial Trigger Point. The Importance Of The Local Twitch Response: Am J Phys Med Rehabil 1994 Jul-Aug;73(4):256-63.

Han S.C., Harrison P.; Myofascial Pain Syndrome And Trigger-Point Management. Reg Anesth 1997 Jan-Feb;22(1):89-101

Hopwood M.B., Abram S.E.; Factors Associated With Failure Of Trigger Point Injections. Clin J Pain 1994 Sep;10(3):227-34

Sist T., Miner M., Lema M.; Characteristics Of Postradical Neck Pain Syndrome: A Report Of 25 Cases. J Pain Symptom Manage 1999 Aug;18(2):95-102

Hameroff S.R., Crago B.R., Blitt C.D., Womble J., Kanel J.; Comparison Of Bupivacaine, Etidocaine, And Saline For Trigger-Point Therapy: Anesth Analg 1981 Oct;60(10):752-5

Wyant G.M.; Chronic Pain Syndromes And Their Treatment. II. Trigger Points: Can Anaesth Soc J 1979 May;26(3):216-9

Borg-Stein J., Stein J.; Trigger Points And Tender Points: One And The Same? Does Injection Treatment Help? Rheum Dis Clin North Am 1996 May;22(2):305-22

Wolfe F., Simons D.G., Fricton J., Bennett R.M., Goldenberg D.L., Gerwin R., Hathaway D., McCain G.A., Russell I.J., Sanders H.O., et. al.; The Fibromyalgia And Myofascial Pain Syndromes: A Preliminary Study Of Tenderpoints And Trigger Points In Persons With Fibromyalgia, Myofascial Pain Syndrome And No Disease: J Rheumatol 1992 Jun;19(6):944-51

Harden R.N., Bruehl S.P., Gass S., Niemiec C., Barbick B.; Signs And Symptoms Of The Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A National Survey Of Pain Management Providers: Clin J Pain 2000 Mar;16(1):64-72.

Pongratz D.E., Sievers M.; Fibromyalgia-Symptom Or Diagnosis: A Definition Of The Position. Scand J Rheumatol Suppl 2000;113:3-7

Other Contractor’s Policies

Highmark Medicare Services Contractor Medical Directors

This policy does not reflect the sole opinion of the contractor or Contractor Medical Directors. Although the final decision rests with the contractor, this policy was developed in cooperation with advisory groups, which includes representatives from the appropriate specialty (ies).

CAC/IAC Distribution: 04/01/2008

05/15/2008

05/23/2008

L27540

05/22/2008

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