HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Other therapeutic procedures

Stitch or staple removal under sedation or anesthesia

CPT 15851the billing code this page is about

Removal of surgical stitches or staples in a setting that requires anesthesia or sedation rather than local numbing alone.

Hospitals typically charge $1,181 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 953 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,333. Most fall between $149 and $3,562 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
953
States
49
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 953 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$98$183$1,181$2,988$4,844

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 49× what the cheapest tenth charges ($98 vs $4,844).

How the prices are spread

$70 – $110: 74 hospitals$70$110 – $174: 98 hospitals$174 – $275: 102 hospitals$174$275 – $435: 72 hospitals$435 – $686: 27 hospitals$435$686 – $1,083: 48 hospitals$1,083 – $1,709: 77 hospitals$1,083$1,709 – $2,697: 150 hospitals$2,697 – $4,257: 132 hospitals$2,697$4,257 – $6,720: 80 hospitals$4,257median $1,181price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (860 of 953 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$70$11074
$110$17498
$174$275102
$275$43572
$435$68627
$686$1,08348
$1,083$1,70977
$1,709$2,697150
$2,697$4,257132
$4,257$6,72080

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$2,108
Median cash price$1,181
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.56×

The Medicare figure is the national unadjusted OPPS rate for this code — what Medicare itself pays a hospital before local wage adjustment. It is a benchmark, not a price anyone is charged.

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $1,181.

Alaska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,887 across 40 hospitalsWA$1,887Idaho: median $2,988 across 11 hospitalsID$2,988Montana: median $132 across 11 hospitalsMT$132North Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,810 across 42 hospitalsMN$1,810Illinois: median $176 across 40 hospitalsIL$176Wisconsin: median $385 across 34 hospitalsWI$385Michigan: median $385 across 39 hospitalsMI$385New York: median $2,108 across 44 hospitalsNY$2,108Massachusetts: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $138 across 24 hospitalsOR$138Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $254 across 32 hospitalsIA$254Indiana: median $175 across 25 hospitalsIN$175Ohio: median $3,283 across 38 hospitalsOH$3,283Pennsylvania: median $3,093 across 31 hospitalsPA$3,093New Jersey: median $3,023 across 35 hospitalsNJ$3,023Connecticut: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $3,562 across 83 hospitalsCA$3,562Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $253 across 10 hospitalsCO$253Nebraska: median $232 across 11 hospitalsNE$232Missouri: median $1,851 across 23 hospitalsMO$1,851Kentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $240 across 22 hospitalsWV$240Virginia: median $2,513 across 25 hospitalsVA$2,513Maryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $189 across 21 hospitalsKS$189Arkansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $815 across 23 hospitalsTN$815North Carolina: median $107 across 13 hospitalsNC$107South Carolina: median $1,314 across 18 hospitalsSC$1,314Oklahoma: median $88 across 16 hospitalsOK$88Louisiana: median $726 across 17 hospitalsLA$726Mississippi: median $133 across 10 hospitalsMS$133Alabama: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $4,609 across 15 hospitalsGA$4,609Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,449 across 63 hospitalsTX$1,449Florida: median $2,616 across 29 hospitalsFL$2,616
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,181. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA15$4,609+290%$963 – $4,609
California CA83$3,562+202%$1,518 – $4,844
Ohio OH38$3,283+178%$485 – $5,765
Pennsylvania PA31$3,093+162%$304 – $3,785
New Jersey NJ35$3,023+156%$2,025 – $5,110
Idaho ID11$2,988+153%$356 – $2,988
Florida FL29$2,616+122%$1,821 – $3,807
Virginia VA25$2,513+113%$830 – $2,689
New York NY44$2,108+79%$145 – $2,576
Washington WA40$1,887+60%$156 – $3,371
Missouri MO23$1,851+57%$130 – $4,056
Minnesota MN42$1,810+53%$261 – $2,074
Texas TX63$1,449+23%$657 – $1,940
South Carolina SC18$1,314+11%$520 – $1,314
Tennessee TN23$815−31%$109 – $830
Louisiana LA17$726−38%$288 – $3,020
Michigan MI39$385−67%$153 – $4,682
Wisconsin WI34$385−67%$223 – $404
Iowa IA32$254−79%$149 – $293
Colorado CO10$253−79%$82 – $2,297
West Virginia WV22$240−80%$68 – $2,988
Nebraska NE11$232−80%$131 – $512
Kansas KS21$189−84%$107 – $1,750
Illinois IL40$176−85%$113 – $1,086
Indiana IN25$175−85%$98 – $245
Oregon OR24$138−88%$104 – $4,587
Mississippi MS10$133−89%$118 – $1,640
Montana MT11$132−89%$86 – $145
North Carolina NC13$107−91%$55 – $2,338
Oklahoma OK16$88−93%$88 – $1,827
Alabama AL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $1,181.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care698$1,647$181 – $3,785
Children’s43$2,113$253 – $7,829
Critical access211$223$113 – $1,750
Ownership
For-profit85$1,518$234 – $4,162
Government161$316$125 – $2,165
Non-profit706$1,314$155 – $3,567
System affiliation
Part of a system761$1,556$176 – $3,742
Independent192$278$109 – $2,062

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,544
Median cash price$1,181
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

563 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,413 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,521; most fall between $161 and $3,567.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 563 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$104$234$1,413$3,157$4,609

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 44× what the cheapest tenth charges ($104 vs $4,609).

Of the 631 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 563 gave a usable cash price; 50 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 18 a list price only.

How complete is this

953 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (24%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,046 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted953
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here61
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded31
Hospitals that filed this code1,046

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between September 4, 2026 and September 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other therapeutic procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Removal Sutures/Staples Requiring Anesthesia.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Stitch or staple removal under sedation or anesthesia (CPT 15851) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-15851-stitch-or-staple-removal-under-sedation-or-anesthesia