Billing code 27894: Leg fasciotomyMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $757.20 for 27894 nationally in a facility.

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 27894 covers

This operation releases fascia in the leg to relieve pressure across the anterior, lateral, and posterior compartment regions. It is commonly performed by an orthopedic or trauma surgeon for acute compartment syndrome, including after a tibial injury, crush injury, or reperfusion. The procedure may be done in a hospital operating room when urgent surgical decompression is needed.

Choose this code when the operative report supports release of all three named compartment regions; select a sibling code when the documented release is limited to a different compartment pattern. Record the affected side and the compartments actually released, rather than relying on incision count alone. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. For bilateral procedures, modifier 50 is paid at 150%. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 27894 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

27894 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

How the 27894 rate is calculated

Each of 27894’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 27894

27894 has a 90-day global period: related visits in that window are included in the surgery payment.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 50

27894 compared with similar codes

How to choose

27892Leg fasciotomy

Choose 27892 when the operative report supports its narrower anterior and/or lateral compartment release pattern, rather than release across anterior, lateral, and posterior regions.

27893Leg fasciotomy

Choose 27893 for the posterior compartment pattern described by that sibling code; use 27894 when anterior and lateral regions are also released.

27899Unlisted px leg/ankle

Use 27899 only when the leg or ankle procedure is not represented by a specific listed code, rather than when the documented release matches 27894.

Codes related to 27894

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates