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Procedure price report · Other OR lower GI therapeutic procedures

Opening the small intestine to relieve pressure

CPT 44021the billing code this page is about

Surgery that opens the small intestine, other than the duodenum, to decompress it by releasing built-up gas and fluid, including tube placement.

Hospitals typically charge $1,941 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 302 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,031. Most fall between $1,145 and $3,486 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
302
States
45
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 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 302 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
$970$1,368$1,941$2,956$4,627

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 4.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($970 vs $4,627).

How the prices are spread

$649 – $793: 10 hospitals$649$793 – $968: 7 hospitals$968 – $1,181: 35 hospitals$968$1,181 – $1,442: 22 hospitals$1,442 – $1,760: 45 hospitals$1,442$1,760 – $2,148: 38 hospitals$2,148 – $2,621: 35 hospitals$2,148$2,621 – $3,200: 28 hospitals$3,200 – $3,906: 24 hospitals$3,200$3,906 – $4,767: 30 hospitals$3,906median $1,941price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (274 of 302 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$649$79310
$793$9687
$968$1,18135
$1,181$1,44222
$1,442$1,76045
$1,760$2,14838
$2,148$2,62135
$2,621$3,20028
$3,200$3,90624
$3,906$4,76730

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $1,941.

Alaska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $3,305 across 16 hospitalsMN$3,305Illinois: median $1,350 across 14 hospitalsIL$1,350Wisconsin: median $4,767 across 14 hospitalsWI$4,767Michigan: median $1,941 across 28 hospitalsMI$1,941New York: median $1,614 across 18 hospitalsNY$1,614Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: median $2,387 across 13 hospitalsOR$2,387Nevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $2,394 across 20 hospitalsIA$2,394Indiana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $2,442 across 12 hospitalsOH$2,442Pennsylvania: median $740 across 17 hospitalsPA$740New Jersey: median $5,110 across 14 hospitalsNJ$5,110Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCAUtah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $1,069 across 10 hospitalsWV$1,069Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 2 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: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSCOklahoma: median $1,597 across 10 hospitalsOK$1,597Louisiana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTXFlorida: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,941. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ14$5,110+163%$3,986 – $6,311
Wisconsin WI14$4,767+146%$4,767 – $4,767
Minnesota MN16$3,305+70%$1,019 – $3,877
Ohio OH12$2,442+26%$1,337 – $4,241
Iowa IA20$2,394+23%$1,998 – $2,394
Oregon OR13$2,387+23%$1,788 – $2,654
Michigan MI28$1,9410%$1,368 – $2,278
New York NY18$1,614−17%$1,164 – $2,577
Oklahoma OK10$1,597−18%$1,597 – $1,597
Illinois IL14$1,350−30%$1,145 – $3,555
West Virginia WV10$1,069−45%$1,055 – $2,039
Pennsylvania PA17$740−62%$603 – $3,280
Missouri MO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
California CA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Texas TX6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA2not 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
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not 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 $1,941.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care211$1,941$1,145 – $3,430
Children’s8fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access82$1,938$1,145 – $3,713
Ownership
For-profit22$1,597$1,145 – $3,442
Government52$1,987$1,183 – $2,677
Non-profit227$1,941$1,164 – $3,877
System affiliation
Part of a system229$1,941$1,145 – $3,877
Independent73$1,938$1,373 – $3,186

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,750
Median cash price$1,941
Cash as a share of list, median hospital69%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 31%. 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

197 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,788 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,894; most fall between $1,145 and $2,905.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 197 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
$923$1,164$1,788$2,616$3,899

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 4.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($923 vs $3,899).

Of the 217 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 197 gave a usable cash price; 18 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 2 a list price only.

How complete is this

302 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (8%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 345 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted302
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here38
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 — excluded4
Hospitals that filed this code345

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • 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 23, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other OR lower GI therapeutic procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Enterotomy Sm Int Oth/Thn Duo Dcmprn.

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, “Opening the small intestine to relieve pressure (CPT 44021) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-44021-opening-the-small-intestine-to-relieve-pressure