CPT 64771: Cranial nerve transectionMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $558.80 for 64771 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 64771 covers

A surgeon reports this service when an intracranial cranial nerve is intentionally divided or avulsed. It represents destructive nerve surgery, rather than nerve decompression, repair, or removal of a nerve lesion. Neurosurgeons and other surgeons qualified to perform intracranial nerve procedures typically perform it in an operating room. The operative report should identify the nerve, its intracranial location, and the transection or avulsion performed.

Select this code when the treated nerve and operative approach fit the “other cranial nerve” category, rather than a separately named cranial nerve procedure. Documentation should establish the surgical intent and distinguish the work from procedures that preserve or decompress the nerve. Medicare assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others are subject to the standard multiple procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made; 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 64771 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

64771 rates by state

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

How the 64771 rate is calculated

Each of 64771’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 64771

64771 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 51

64771 compared with similar codes

How to choose

64716Cranial nerve surgery

Use 64716 for intracranial transection or avulsion of the facial nerve. This code is for another cranial nerve not covered by a specifically named code.

64742Facial nerve surgery

Use 64742 for facial nerve transection or avulsion at an extracranial location. This code concerns another cranial nerve within the intracranial category.

64772Spinal nerve surgery

Use 64772 for transection or avulsion of a spinal nerve. This code concerns an intracranial cranial nerve.

Codes related to 64771

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