Opening and draining a collection of blood, serum, or other fluid that has built up in the skin or subcutaneous tissue.
- Medicare
- $174.35
- Work RVU
- 1.54
- Global, days
- 10
- Region
- Multi-region
Documentation requirements
What must appear in the operative or office note to support the claim.
Source · Editorial brief grounded in 3 cited references ↓
- Type of collection (hematoma, seroma, other) and cause
- Location, size, and depth
- Incision made and fluid evacuated, with volume
- Signs of infection present or absent
- Relationship to a prior surgery and its date
- Dressing, compression, and follow-up plan
Applicable modifiers
Modifiers commonly billed with this code.
Source · AMA CPT modifier descriptors · CMS NCCI Policy Manual
What this code covers
Source · Editorial summary grounded in 3 cited references ↓
10140 covers incision and drainage of a hematoma, seroma, or other non-infected fluid collection in the skin or subcutaneous layer. It has a 10-day global.
Orthopedic practices see two main versions. One is a traumatic hematoma, for example a large thigh or shin hematoma after a fall in a patient on anticoagulants. The other is a postoperative seroma or hematoma over an incision. For an infected collection, the abscess codes (10060, 10061) fit better. Needle aspiration with no incision is a different code, and catheter drainage under imaging is 10030.
The global period is where most claims go wrong. If the surgeon drains a hematoma from their own surgery in the office, Medicare treats it as part of the surgical global and does not pay it unless it required a return to the operating room (then modifier 78). Commercial payers vary. A provider outside the surgeon's group is not bound by that global. Same-day E/M needs modifier 25 and a separately identifiable evaluation.
RVU & reimbursement
Component RVUs and Medicare national rate. Actual payment varies by GPCI locality.
Source · CMS Physician Fee Schedule, RVU26A · January 2026
Work RVU vs. total RVU
The work RVU (1.54) is the surgeon's own effort — the figure physician pay and productivity targets are built on. The total RVU (5.22) adds practice overhead and malpractice, and is what drives the Medicare payment below.
| Work RVU | 1.54 |
| Practice expense RVU | 3.47 |
| Malpractice RVU | 0.21 |
| Total RVU | 5.22 |
| Medicare national rate | $174.35 |
| Global period | 10 days |
Payment by site of service
Medicare pays different rates by setting. HOPD typically pays substantially more than ASC for the same procedure.
Source · CMS OPPS Addendum B·ASC HCPCS payment rates·2026
| Setting | Medicare rate (national) |
|---|---|
Office (PFS non-facility) Procedure performed in physician's office | $174.35 |
HOPD (APC 5072) Hospital outpatient department | $1,687.37 |
ASC (PI P3) Ambulatory surgical center (freestanding) | $116.48 |
Common denial reasons
The recurring reasons claims for CPT 10140 get rejected.
Source · Editorial brief grounded in CMS NCCI edits, AAOS coding appeals, and cited references ↓
- Postop hematoma drained in the office during the surgeon's global
- Needle aspiration only, no incision
- Infected collection better coded as abscess I&D
- Imaging-guided catheter drainage billed as 10140
- Same-day E/M without modifier 25
Frequently asked questions
Source · Generated from the editorial pipeline, verified against 3 cited references ↓
01Can I bill 10140 for a postop seroma?
02Is aspiration of a hematoma 10140?
03What is the global for 10140?
Sources & references
Editorial content was developed using the following public sources.
Mira Scribe
Mira Scribe documents the cause of the collection, its link to any prior surgery, and what was evacuated, which decides whether 10140 is payable inside a global.
See how Mira captures CPT 10140 documentation