Intraoperative Frozen Section: Comparative Study With Routine Histopathological Diagnosis in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Wayanad

Aim: To compare frozen section (FS) diagnosis with routine histopathological diagnosis using parafnembedded sections. Materials And Methods: This retrospective analytical study included 42 FS specimens and corresponding parafn-embedded sections from June 2018 to Nov 2020. FS reports were compared with parafn section reports for diagnostic accuracy, considering parafn section diagnosis as the gold standard. Discordant cases were analyzed to identify reasons for disparity. Results: The accuracy rate was 89.18%, with 10.2% discordance. Sensitivity, specicity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 91.4%, 71.4%, 94.1%, and 62.5%, respectively. The average turnaround time (TAT) was 25 minutes. Conclusion: FS remains a reliable intraoperative diagnostic tool. Measures such as thorough tissue sampling, clear pathologist-surgeon communication, and second pathologist review in challenging cases can limit diagnostic discrepancies.