CMM-613: Thoracic Decompression and Discectomy

Thoracic decompression/discectomy (including corpectomy and repeat procedures) is medically necessary for urgent/emergent pathology (e.g., traumatic fractures with neural compression, progressive neurologic deficit, cord compression with MRI signal change, infection, tumor) and for carefully defined radiculopathy or myelopathy with concordant MRI/CT findings, while sole indications (annular tears, concordant discography, MR spectroscopy, degenerative disc disease), laser techniques, and percutaneous/endoscopic thoracic procedures are excluded or investigational. Key requirements: documentation of specified subjective and objective findings and concordant imaging, failure of ≥2 conservative therapies (typically ~6 weeks each) for non‑urgent cases (repeat procedures generally require >12 weeks since prior surgery), corpectomy must remove ≥1/3 of the vertebral body and include fusion, and urgent/emergent cases are exempt from some conservative‑management and timing requirements.