CPT Code Overview

CPT 01744 describes anesthesia services provided for total knee arthroplasty, an operative procedure on the knee joint to replace the joint surfaces. This code is used for perioperative anesthesia management associated with surgical replacement of the knee joint.

Service Type: Anesthesiology

Typical Site of Service: Inpatient Hospital (POS 21)

Clinical Context

A typical patient is an adult with advanced knee osteoarthritis scheduled for a primary total knee arthroplasty. The patient presents preoperatively with progressive pain, loss of function, and imaging-confirmed joint degeneration consistent with diagnoses such as M17.11 or M17.12. Preoperative evaluation occurs in the hospital setting (Inpatient Hospital, POS 21) and includes anesthesia assessment, consent, and review of comorbidities. On the day of surgery the anesthesiology team provides perioperative anesthesia care for 01744 (anesthesia for total knee arthroplasty), which may include neuraxial anesthesia (spinal/epidural), peripheral nerve blocks, monitored general anesthesia, intraoperative hemodynamic management, and postoperative pain handoff to recovery room or acute pain service. Typical workflow: preoperative assessment and optimization, intraoperative anesthesia management during 27447 (total knee arthroplasty), immediate postoperative recovery and pain control, and inpatient postoperative monitoring and orders for physical therapy and discharge planning.

Coding Specifications

• Common Modifiers

• AA - Anesthesia services performed personally by an anesthesiologist. Use when the anesthesiologist personally provides the anesthesia care for the case.

• QK - Medical direction of two, three, or four concurrent anesthesia procedures. Use when the physician medically directs multiple concurrent anesthesia services (2–4) and meets documentation requirements for medical direction.

• QX - CRNA service with medical direction by a physician. Use when a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) performs the anesthesia service under the documented medical direction of a physician.

• QZ - CRNA service without medical direction by a physician. Use when a CRNA provides the anesthesia service independently without physician medical direction.

• Associated Provider Taxonomies

• Notes on use

• Use the modifier that accurately reflects who performed or directed the anesthesia service and the level of physician involvement.

• Use the appropriate taxonomy code to identify the billing provider specialty on claims.

Related Diagnoses

• M17.10 — Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, unspecified knee

  Clinical relevance: Represents primary degenerative joint disease of a single knee and is a typical indication for total knee arthroplasty.

• M17.11 — Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, right knee

  Clinical relevance: Specifies right knee primary osteoarthritis as an indication for unilateral total knee arthroplasty.

• M17.12 — Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, left knee

  Clinical relevance: Specifies left knee primary osteoarthritis as an indication for unilateral total knee arthroplasty.

• M17.5 — Other unilateral secondary osteoarthritis of knee

  Clinical relevance: Secondary osteoarthritis from prior injury, inflammatory disease, or other cause that can lead to the need for total knee arthroplasty.

• Z96.651 — Presence of right artificial knee joint

  Clinical relevance: Indicates a right knee prosthesis already in place; relevant for revision planning, laterality documentation, and anesthesia planning if further procedures are required.

• Z96.652 — Presence of left artificial knee joint

  Clinical relevance: Indicates a left knee prosthesis already in place and is relevant for revision planning, laterality documentation, and anesthesia considerations.

Related CPT Codes

• 27447 is the primary surgical procedure for which 01744 provides anesthesia; these codes are commonly used together in the same episode of care.

• 20610 may be performed preoperatively or diagnostically in the perioperative course but is not part of total knee arthroplasty; it can be used when joint aspiration or injection is performed during the episode.

• 29881 and 29888 are arthroscopic knee procedures that represent different surgical approaches or alternative procedures for knee pathology; they may be alternatives to open arthroplasty in some clinical scenarios or may precede arthroplasty in the patient’s surgical history.

• Common pairings: 01744 with 27447 for total knee arthroplasty. Other listed CPT codes are related procedures that can occur in the knee care pathway but are not typically billed concurrently with primary total knee arthroplasty.

National mean commercial rates for CPT 01744 are higher than Medicare/BUCA benchmarks on average. The BUCA (average commercial benchmark) mean is $158.71, while Medicare is represented as $0.00 in the input; among commercial payers, means range from $65.55 (UnitedHealth Group) to $298.29 (Cigna).

Rate dispersion, measured as the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles, is widest for Cigna (433.00 - 88.00 = $345.00) and BCBS (360.00 - 204.50 = $155.50), indicating broader variability in allowed amounts. The tightest distributions appear for UnitedHealth Group (75.33 - 50.25 = $25.08) and Aetna (351.00 - 40.00 = $311.00) — UnitedHealth Group shows the smallest interquartile spread. The table and chart below present the full payer breakdown of mean rates and percentiles.