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Intraoperative frozen section
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An intraoperative frozen section is a way to look at a piece of tissue under the microscope when the answer is needed right away. This happens, for example, in the middle of surgery: the team needs to know quickly what an abnormal area of tissue is and how far it extends.
The sample is quickly frozen and sliced into very thin sections with an instrument called a cryostat. It is then stained with dyes and reviewed by a pathologist, the doctor who studies tissues. All of this can take about 15 to 20 minutes.
The other route is the fixed section, also called a permanent section. It usually takes several days. On the other hand, those slides show more detail, and they are used more than frozen sections to make a diagnosis. It is like the difference between an instant photo, which comes out in minutes, and a photo developed in a lab, which takes days but shows more detail.
In brief
A frozen section is done when an immediate answer about a tissue sample is needed, for example during surgery, to give a rapid diagnosis of an abnormal area and its extent.
The sample is quickly frozen, cut into very thin slices with an instrument called a cryostat, stained and examined by a pathologist; all of this can take about 15 to 20 minutes.
A fixed, or permanent, section usually takes several days but preserves more detail and is used more than a frozen section for diagnosis.
Sources (1)
- National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of HealthPathology Reports, National Cancer InstitutePublished
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