An Audit of Intraoperative Frozen Section at a Tertiary Care Center

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Frozen section (FS) is an important diagnostic tool for intraoperative decision-making. Audit of FS is an integral aspect of qualitative measure of pathology services. The aim of the study was to correlate FS diagnosis with final diagnosis and study diagnostic accuracy. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted for a period of 12 months from July 1, 2021, to June 31, 2022, at a tertiary care center. A total of 122 consecutive frozen cases were studied retrospectively. The FS and corresponding formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue section with their final histopathological examination reports were studied and analyzed. The results were analyzed as concordant and discordant rates, which were compared with other similar studies. Reasons for discordance were discussed. Results: The patients were in the age range of 3 months to 87 years with a male:female ratio of 1.1:1. The turnaround time from receipt of sample to release of frozen report ranged from 10 to 40 min (average = 20 min). Indications of FS were for primary diagnosis of lesion (n = 66), resection margin assessment (n = 41), lymph node assessment (n = 12), and assessment of donor liver tissue (n = 3). Maximum number of specimens were from the surgery department, and the most commonly sampled site was oral cavity. The concordance and discordance rates were 95.90% and 4.10%, respectively. Conclusion: Intraoperative FS diagnosis aids in proper surgical decision-making and management. Periodic audit of FS and analysis of discrepancies is important to avoid mistakes in FS diagnosis.