AAPC CPC Exam Study Guide 2026, Certified Professional Coder Practice Questions & Exam Prep

AAPC CPC Exam Study Guide 2026, Certified Professional Coder Practice Questions & Exam Prep Most of the codes in ICD-10-CM Chapter 13 Diseases of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue have site and laterality designations. According to ICD10-CM guidelines what is considered the site? the site may be the bone, joint, or muscle involved What is being removed for hallux valgus surgery Bunion A patient presents to the ED with back pain and is diagnosed with a lumbar sprain. What ICD-10-CM code is reported? a. M53.3 b. M54.5 c. S33.8XXA d. S33.5XXA S33.5XXA What information is required to accurately code osteoarthritis in ICD-10-CM? Whether the osteoarthritis is primary, secondary, posttraumatic, the site and laterality A patient is seen in the same day surgery unit for an arthroscopy to remove some loose bodies in the shoulder area. What 29819 CPT® code is reported? A 42 year-old with chronic right trochanteric bursitis is scheduled to 20610-RT J3301X4 receive an injection at the Pain Clinic. A 22-gauge spinal needle is introduced into the trochanteric bursa, and a total volume of 8 cc of normal saline and 40 mg of Kenalog is injected. What are the CPT® codes? A 6 year-old male suffered a fracture after falling off the monkey bars at school. He fell on an outstretched hand and suffered a transcondylar fracture of the left humerus. After prep and drape, a manipulation was done to achieve anatomic reduction. Once the joint was adequately reduced, pins were placed through the skin distally and proximally into the bone to maintain excellent fixation and anatomic reduction. The pins were bent, trimmed and covered with a sterile dressing and a posterior splint was placed on the patient's arm. What CPT® code is reported? 24538-LT A 44 year-old male with biplanar deformity, acquired limb length discrepancies and tibial nonunion has undergone deformity correction. He now requires exchange of an external fixation 20697 strut 45 days postoperatively. One of the struts for his multiplane external fixation device is removed and then replaced with an adjustable strut. The intraoperative mounting parameters, deformity parameters and initial strut settings are entered into the computer prior to Jim's discharge and a daily schedule is generated for him to perform the gradual deformity correction necessary. What CPT® code(s) is/are reported? A 63 year-old man presents with a neck mass to be excised. The neck mass was palpated and an incision was then made and carried down through the dermis with electrocautery. The subcutaneous tissue of the skin was opened encountering an organized mass with a benign appearance of a lipoma. Using careful blunt and sharp dissection, the mass measuring 5 cm was completely excised around its entire circumference leaving the capsule intact. The mass was removed from its posterior attachments using electrocautery. What CPT® code is reported for this procedure? 21552 A 49 year-old presents with an abscess of the right thumb. The physician incises the abscess and purulent sanguineous fluid is drained. The wound is packed with iodoform packing. What CPT® code is reported? 26010-F5 A 14 year-old status post injury over one year ago to her left wrist presented with recurrent wrist pain. The patient was taken to the operating room and placed under general anesthesia. She was placed in wrist traction. The radiocarpal joint was entered endoscopically through sharp skin incisions and blunt dissection into the joint. There was found to be mild synovitis in the dorsal ulnar aspect of the wrist. This was debrided arthroscopically with a shaver. There was a peripheral tear of the triangular fibrocartilage. This area was shaved to promote healing. Using outside-in technique, a PDS suture was placed across the TFCC and into the capsule. There was synovitis within the midcarpal joint, but there was no articular injury. All instruments were removed and the wounds were closed with interrupted nylon sutures. What CPT® code(s) is /are reported? 29846-LT A 27 year-old presents with right-sided thoracic myofascial pain. A 25-gauge 1.5inch needle on a 10 cc controlled syringe with 0.25% bupivacaine was used. After negative aspiration, 2 cc were injected into each trigger point. A total of four trigger points were injected. A total of 8 cc of bupivacaine was used on the 20553 rhomboid major, rhomboid minor, and levator scapular muscles. What CPT® code(s) is/are reported for this procedure? The patient presents today for closed reduction of a nasal fracture. The 21315 depressed right nasal bone was elevated using heavy reduction forceps while the left nasal bone was pushed to the midline. This resulted in good alignment of the external nasal dorsum. What CPT® code is reported for this procedure? A 49 year-old female presented with chronic deQuervain's disease and has been unresponsive to physical therapy, bracing or cortisone injection. She has opted for more definitive treatment. After induction of anesthesia, the patient's left arm was prepared and draped in the normal sterile fashion. Local anesthetic was injected using a combination 2% lidocaine and 0.25% Marcaine. A transverse incision was made over the central area of the first dorsal compartment. The subcutaneous tissues were gently spread to protect the neural and venous structures. The retractors were placed. The fascial sheath of the first dorsal compartment was then incised and opened carefully. The underlying thumb abductor and extensor tendons were identified. The tissues were dissected and