LCD/NCD Portal

NCD20.3

 

THORACIC DUCT DRAINAGE (TDD) IN RENAL TRANSPLANTS

 

 

Effective Date of this Version

• This is a longstanding national coverage determination.

• The effective date of this version has not been posted.

 

Benefit Category

• Inpatient Hospital Services

• Physicians' Services

• Note: This may not be an exhaustive list of all applicable Medicare benefit categories for this item or service.

 

Item/Service Description

• Thoracic Duct Drainage (TDD) is an immunosuppressive technique used in renal transplantation.

• This procedure, which removes lymph from kidney transplant recipients as a means of achieving suppression of the immune mechanism, is currently being used both pre-transplant and post-transplant in conjunction with more conventional immunotherapy.

 

Indications and Limitations of Coverage

• TDD is performed on an INPATIENT basis, and the inpatient stay is covered for patients admitted for treatment in advance of a kidney transplant as well as for those receiving it post-transplant.

• TDD is a covered technique when furnished to a kidney transplant recipient or an individual approved to receive kidney transplantation in a hospital approved to perform kidney transplantation.

 

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