AAPC CPC Exam - Topic 11 Question 55 Discussion

Actual exam question for AAPC's CPC exam

Question #: 55
Topic #: 11

[All CPC Questions]

A 5-year-old is brought to the QuickCare in the ED to repair two lacerations: a 3 cm laceration on her right arm and 2 cm laceration on her nose. Her arm is repaired with a simple one-layer closure with sutures. Her nose is repaired with a simple repair using tissue adhesive, 2-cyanoacrylate.

How are the repairs reported?

A12013

B12032, 12041-59

C12002

D12002, 12011-59

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: C

The CPT code 12002 is used for simple repair of superficial wounds of 2.5 cm or less. This code includes the repair of both the 3 cm laceration on the right arm and the 2 cm laceration on the nose as both are simple repairs. The other options suggest more complex repairs or multiple separate procedures, which are not necessary in this scenario. Reference: AMA's CPT Professional Edition (current year)

by Audra at Nov 24, 2025, 03:26 PM

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Mel

13 hours ago

Nope, it’s definitely C for the arm and D for the nose!

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Lajuana

6 days ago

Wait, I thought tissue adhesive was coded differently?

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Felix

11 days ago

Totally agree, but the nose repair with adhesive is tricky!

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Hana

16 days ago

I'm leaning towards B as well. Gotta love those tissue adhesives - quick, easy, and no needles! Although I'm sure the kid would have preferred some stickers over the sutures.

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Felicia

21 days ago

Haha, I bet the kid was like "Ouch, my nose and arm! Guess I'll be getting some cool scars out of this." Anyway, I think the answer is B.

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Tamra

26 days ago

I'm pretty sure the answer is D. The 12002 code covers the simple repair of both lacerations, and the 12011-59 modifier is needed to indicate the separate procedures on the arm and nose.

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Phung

1 month ago

Hmm, I think the correct answer is B. The arm laceration is repaired with sutures, so 12032 is the right code. And the nose laceration is repaired with tissue adhesive, so 12041-59 is the appropriate modifier.

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Na

1 month ago

I believe the 12002 code is for the arm, but I'm confused about how to report the nose repair with the adhesive.

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Elmer

1 month ago

I practiced a similar question where we had to differentiate between the types of closures. I feel like the nose repair might have a different code.

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Billi

2 months ago

I think the simple repair codes are what we need here, but I can't recall if we report them separately or bundled.

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Carla

2 months ago

I'm a bit unsure about this one. I was considering option C, 12002, since that's for a simple repair. But the question mentions the tissue adhesive, so maybe option D is the way to go.

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Arlene

2 months ago

I'm pretty confident that option B is the right answer here. The arm gets 12032 and the nose gets 12041-59 for the tissue adhesive repair.

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Noel

2 months ago

The arm laceration is a simple closure, so 12002 fits.

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Karima

2 months ago

I remember something about coding for lacerations, but I'm not sure if the tissue adhesive counts differently.

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Aleta

2 months ago

Okay, let me think this through. The arm is a simple one-layer closure, so that's 12032. And the nose is a simple repair with tissue adhesive, which I believe is 12002. So I'd go with option D.

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Craig

3 months ago

B seems like the right choice here. The arm and nose repairs are reported separately, and the 59 modifier is used to indicate the distinct procedures.

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Jerry

3 months ago

I think it’s B, but I’m not sure about the modifiers.

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Vanda

3 months ago

Hmm, I'm a little confused. I was thinking the nose repair might be 12002 since it's a simple repair with tissue adhesive. But I'm not sure if that would be the right code to use.

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Willow

3 months ago

I'm pretty sure this is a simple laceration repair, so I'd go with option B. The arm gets 12032 and the nose gets 12041-59 for the tissue adhesive.

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