Guidance
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued full guidance to the NHS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on Insertion of customised titanium implants, with soft tissue cover, for orofacial reconstruction. This guidance and NICE interventional procedure 457 together replace interventional procedure guidance 28 - Customised titanium implants for orofacial reconstruction (December 2003).
Description
Titanium implants can be inserted to replace broken bones in the face as part of orofacial reconstruction, that is, rebuilding the face when there is severe damage to the bones. This is most commonly needed after injury or surgery to remove tumours.
Some implants are customised (made specially to fit the person). An accurate model is made of the bones of the person’s face. The model is used as a template to make the implant, which is then fixed in position using titanium screws during an operation.
Coding recommendations
The production of a customised titanium implant for orofacial reconstruction is outside of the scope of OPCS-4. The procedure to fix the implant to the patient for the orofacial reconstruction can be coded using OPCS-4 codes depending on which facial bones were reconstructed.