Question:
A patient with a multinodular goiter causing compressive symptoms undergoes surgery. The surgeon removed both the right and left thyroid lobes, including the isthmus. During the procedure, the recurrent laryngeal nerves and parathyroid glands were identified and preserved. No neck dissection is performed. What CPT code should be reported for this procedure?
Answer:
You should report CPT code 60240 – Thyroidectomy, total or complete
In this situation the physician removed the entire thyroid gland, including:
Right thyroid lobe
Left thyroid lobe.
Isthmus.
This meets the definition of a total thyroidectomy, which is reported with CPT 60240.
Do not report:
60220 (total unilateral thyroid lobectomy with or without isthmusectomy), because both lobes were removed.
60225 (total thyroid lobectomy with contralateral subtotal lobectomy), because the contralateral lobe was not partially removed; it was completely removed.
Separate codes for recurrent laryngeal nerve identification or preservation, as these are inherent to the thyroidectomy procedure.
When coding thyroid surgery, focus on:
Extent of gland removal (partial, lobectomy, subtotal, total).
Whether a neck dissection was performed.
Whether a radical thyroidectomy was required for malignancy.
Whether the procedure was initial or a completion thyroidectomy after a prior thyroid surgery.
Look for documentation of removal of both thyroid lobes and the isthmus. If the surgeon removes one lobe completely and only a portion of the opposite lobe, 60225 may be appropriate instead of 60240.
*This response is based on the best information available as of 10/15/26.
