CCSD code N2840 – Repair of avulsion of penis

Key takeaways

CCSD code N2840 is repair of avulsion of penis, a reconstructive trauma operation in chapter 12 under Genitalia.

Bupa grades N2840 MAJOR 5, with a surgeon fee of £650 in its February 2026 schedule.

Most avulsions arrive as emergencies, so confirm the policy covers the admission before you build the claim.

Penile fracture and laceration repairs take N2880, and amputation takes N2610 or N2620.

The operation note must name the avulsed skin and how it was replaced, or the insurer may query the code.

CCSD code N2840 covers repair of penile skin avulsion

CCSD code N2840 covers repair of avulsion of penis. A urologist or plastic surgeon puts it on the claim after repairing a penis whose skin has been torn away from the shaft. Surgeons often call this a degloving injury.

Avulsions usually follow an accident. Loose clothing caught in rotating farm or factory machinery is the textbook cause, and the skin can strip away in seconds. The repair restores skin cover so the penis can heal and function.

That makes N2840 reconstructive surgery for trauma, and the claim should describe it in those terms. The billing questions that matter are emergency cover, authorization timing and a precise operation note.

The code sits in chapter 12 of the CCSD schedule, Urinary system and male reproductive organs, under sub-chapter 12.6.0 Genitalia. UK insurers such as Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva and Vitality all bill against CCSD codes.

What N2840 covers, and where it stops

N2840 applies when the operation deals with skin that has been avulsed from the penis. In practice, that usually means one or more of these steps in the same operating session.

• Debridement and washout of the injured shaft, removing dead or contaminated tissue.
• Replacing viable avulsed skin where it can be saved, sutured back over the shaft.
• Covering the defect when the skin cannot be saved, often with a skin graft or local flap.

Some work sits outside the descriptor and needs its own thinking on the claim.

• Repair of a penile fracture or laceration without avulsed skin. Bill that work as N2880 instead.
• Amputation after a non-salvageable injury. That is N2610 for total and N2620 for partial amputation.
• Later reconstruction of the penis as a planned operation. N2820 describes that work.
• Scrotal or testicular injuries repaired in the same session. These carry their own codes and diagnoses.

Grafts deserve a careful look. The skin chapter has separate graft codes, such as S3624 for a full thickness graft to the genitalia up to 9cm². Whether one can be claimed alongside N2840 depends on CCSD’s combination rules and the insurer. Check before you add it.

Inside the operation: What the note needs to show

Insurers read the operation note to decide whether N2840 fits. Walking through a typical repair shows where each claim detail comes from.

1. Examination under anesthetic. The surgeon records how much skin is lost and whether the corpora are intact.
2. Urethral check. The note states whether the urethra was inspected and found intact or injured. A urethral injury changes the coding picture.
3. Debridement. Non-viable tissue is removed, and the note records what was taken.
4. Cover. Viable skin is replaced, or a graft or flap is used, with the donor site named.
5. Dressing and catheter. The plan for dressings, catheter and graft review is written down.

Some patients need a second operation once the wound is clean. Treat each return to the operating room as its own episode, with its own codes and, where needed, its own authorization.

ICD-10 codes that support an N2840 claim

UK insurers expect the diagnosis as a WHO ICD-10 code. The US ICD-10-CM version, with its extra characters, does not apply here. These codes match the usual avulsion presentations.

Code from the operative findings rather than the admission note. An open wound code with no mechanism invites a query about why surgery was needed.

Neighboring codes N2840 gets mixed up with

The Genitalia sub-chapter holds several penile codes with similar wording. Diagnostic sampling of a penile lesion has its own entry in the same sub-chapter, N3210. Foreskin operations sit there too, such as preputioplasty under code N3010. Frenuloplasty of the penis, which lengthens a short frenulum, is listed separately as code N2842. The table shows the ones most often confused with N2840, with Bupa’s February 2026 grades for comparison.

A simple test helps. If skin was torn away and the surgeon restored cover, it is N2840. If the penis itself was repaired, it is N2880. The chart below runs the same test across all five penile codes, starting from what the operation note shows.

How an N2840 claim moves from surgery to payment

Three accounts come out of one avulsion repair. Each follows the same path, so it helps to see it in order.

1. Authorization. The patient or hospital contacts the insurer and receives an authorization number for N2840.
2. Surgery and coding. The surgeon writes the note and confirms N2840 plus the ICD-10 diagnosis.
3. Three claims. The surgeon, the anesthetist and the hospital each bill the insurer separately, quoting the same authorization number.
4. Submission. Most consultant claims go through Healthcode with the code, diagnosis, dates and consultant details.
5. Payment or shortfall. The insurer pays its rate, and any agreed shortfall is invoiced to the patient.

Bupa’s schedule lists N2840 as MAJOR 5, with a £650 surgeon fee as of February 2026. Other insurers set their own rates, and our Bupa fee schedule guide explains how the grades work. Confirm the current figure before quoting a patient.

If your fee is above the insurer’s rate, tell the patient in writing before treatment. The CMA’s private healthcare order expects consultants to share fee information in advance.

Emergency admissions decide whether there is a claim at all

Most avulsions arrive through the emergency department (A&E), and many private medical insurance policies exclude emergency admissions. Plenty of these repairs therefore happen in the NHS, with no private claim to make.

When a patient is treated privately, call the insurer as early as you can. Ask whether the policy covers the admission and whether authorization can be given retrospectively. Record the name, time and reference of that call.

If cover is refused, agree self-pay terms with the patient before any planned second stage. That conversation is easier before surgery than after an invoice.

A worked example: A farm machinery avulsion

Here is how a claim might run for an illustrative patient. A farmer’s overalls catch in a power take-off shaft, stripping the skin from the penile shaft and part of the scrotum.

He is admitted to a private hospital that accepts his policy, and the team phones the insurer the same evening. The insurer confirms cover and issues an authorization number for N2840.

The note records an intact urethra, debridement, a split-thickness graft to the shaft and primary closure of the scrotal skin. The coder uses S31.2 and S31.3, with W31 as the cause. Before adding a graft code, the practice checks the insurer’s combination rules.

Before you submit: An N2840 checklist

• Authorization number is on the claim and matches the code authorized.
• Operation note names avulsed skin, the area involved and how cover was restored.
• Urethral status is stated, intact or injured.
• ICD-10 diagnosis comes from the operative findings, usually S31.2.
• Extra codes such as a graft have been checked against combination rules.
• Consultant recognition with that insurer was valid on the date of surgery.
• Patient details match the membership card exactly.

Common mistakes that get N2840 claims rejected

Rejections on this code follow a handful of patterns, and each one has a standard fix.

How Pabau keeps N2840 claims together from surgery to Healthcode

In many surgical practices, the authorization number lives in an email and the code lives on a billing sheet. They meet only when someone types the claim into Healthcode. Most missing-field rejections start right there.

Pabau, the practice management platform we build, records the CCSD code, the diagnosis and the authorization number against the episode. Its claims management software pulls them from the patient record and sends the claim through Healthcode. Required fields are checked before the claim can go.

Structured operation and consent forms help too. Pabau’s digital forms prompt for urethral status, graft details and the mechanism of injury, so the note supports the code first time.

Send complete CCSD claims the first time

Pabau records the CCSD code, diagnosis and authorization number against each episode and sends claims through Healthcode. Your team sees each claim’s status in one place.

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Conclusion

N2840 is an easy code to choose once the note is clear. Avulsed skin that the surgeon restored is N2840, and any other penile injury repair is N2880. Describe it on every claim as the trauma repair it is.

Cover decides most of these claims. Avulsions usually arrive as emergencies, so settle authorization early and keep the reference with every account. Book a demo to see how Pabau keeps the code, diagnosis and authorization number together on every Healthcode claim.

Continue your research

Billing a fracture or laceration instead? CCSD code N2880 covers repair of injury to penis and the rejections that go with it.

Was the injury non-salvageable? CCSD code N2610 explains total amputation and how it differs from partial amputation.

Need the full picture on Bupa grades? Bupa procedure codes and fee schedule shows how complexity bands set surgeon fees.

Booking a planned reconstruction? CCSD code N2820 covers reconstruction of penis, the planned operation that can follow an acute repair.

Looking up other codes? Bupa CCSD codes walks through the schedule and how Bupa applies it.

Frequently asked questions