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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic procedures on muscles and tendons

Draining an infected fluid sac in the leg or ankle

CPT 27604the billing code this page is about

Surgical opening and drainage of an infected bursa, a fluid-filled cushioning sac, in the lower leg or ankle.

Hospitals typically charge $2,382 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 482 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,678. Most fall between $846 and $4,914 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
482
States
48
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 482 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
$538$914$2,382$4,679$6,839

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($538 vs $6,839).

How the prices are spread

$419 – $572: 38 hospitals$419$572 – $780: 23 hospitals$780 – $1,066: 52 hospitals$780$1,066 – $1,456: 45 hospitals$1,456 – $1,988: 41 hospitals$1,456$1,988 – $2,714: 26 hospitals$2,714 – $3,707: 32 hospitals$2,714$3,707 – $5,062: 110 hospitals$5,062 – $6,913: 51 hospitals$5,062$6,913 – $9,441: 16 hospitals$6,913median $2,382price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (434 of 482 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$419$57238
$572$78023
$780$1,06652
$1,066$1,45645
$1,456$1,98841
$1,988$2,71426
$2,714$3,70732
$3,707$5,062110
$5,062$6,91351
$6,913$9,44116

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,382
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.71×

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 $2,382.

Alaska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $5,731 across 12 hospitalsWA$5,731Idaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $620 across 14 hospitalsIL$620Wisconsin: median $1,758 across 21 hospitalsWI$1,758Michigan: median $914 across 27 hospitalsMI$914New York: median $3,840 across 34 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $6,719 across 15 hospitalsOR$6,719Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $1,174 across 17 hospitalsIA$1,174Indiana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $1,193 across 12 hospitalsOH$1,193Pennsylvania: median $2,382 across 26 hospitalsPA$2,382New Jersey: median $3,986 across 28 hospitalsNJ$3,986Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $4,914 across 61 hospitalsCA$4,914Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $3,761 across 13 hospitalsWV$3,761Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: median $4,679 across 19 hospitalsSC$4,679Oklahoma: median $538 across 12 hospitalsOK$538Louisiana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $2,273 across 25 hospitalsGA$2,273Hawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,722 across 29 hospitalsTX$3,722Florida: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,382. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Oregon OR15$6,719+182%$846 – $6,719
Washington WA12$5,731+141%$942 – $6,472
California CA61$4,914+106%$2,531 – $10,595
South Carolina SC19$4,679+96%$4,679 – $6,404
New Jersey NJ28$3,986+67%$3,591 – $5,855
New York NY34$3,840+61%$841 – $4,084
West Virginia WV13$3,761+58%$925 – $3,955
Texas TX29$3,722+56%$1,786 – $3,823
Pennsylvania PA26$2,3820%$216 – $4,720
Georgia GA25$2,273−5%$1,809 – $6,905
Wisconsin WI21$1,758−26%$1,614 – $1,758
Ohio OH12$1,193−50%$664 – $1,507
Iowa IA17$1,174−51%$1,174 – $1,199
Michigan MI27$914−62%$732 – $1,758
Illinois IL14$620−74%$452 – $1,180
Oklahoma OK12$538−77%$538 – $538
Massachusetts MA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not 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 $2,382.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care401$3,140$846 – $4,914
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access71$1,758$806 – $5,462
Ownership
For-profit57$2,566$664 – $5,299
Government59$1,393$784 – $3,840
Non-profit365$3,140$846 – $5,331
System affiliation
Part of a system405$3,218$893 – $5,331
Independent77$1,328$620 – $3,553

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,207
Median cash price$2,382
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

317 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,273 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,802; most fall between $784 and $6,219.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 317 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
$538$924$2,273$4,914$7,256

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($538 vs $7,256).

Of the 336 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 317 gave a usable cash price; 14 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 5 a list price only.

How complete is this

482 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (12%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 518 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted482
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here28
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded7
Hospitals that filed this code518

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 on muscles and tendons family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Incision & Drainage Leg/Ankle Infected Bursa.

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, “Draining an infected fluid sac in the leg or ankle (CPT 27604) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-27604-draining-an-infected-fluid-sac-in-the-leg-or-ankle