CPT Code for lumbar paraspinal trigger point injections?

[shakespeare]

So our NP did trigger point injections in the lumbar paraspinal region on a patient with chronic back pain. We're unsure whether this should be billed as CPT 20552 (1-2 muscle groups) or 20553 (3+ muscle groups). It was bilateral, but limited to the paraspinals. Just want to make sure we're coding this correctly. TIA.

 

[Shiningrock]

If only the paraspinal muscles were treated, then you should bill it as 20552 because 20553 is for 3 or more than 3 mucle groups. So, unless you've treated 3 or more than 3 then you should bill it as 20552.

 

[Back.end.dev]

If it was just the lumbar paraspinals on both sides, that's typically considered 1 to 2 muscle groups, so 20552 would be correct. Bilateral doesn't automatically bump it to 20553, what matters is the number of muscle groups, not sides.