Practicality of frozen section at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital: a pilot study

Background: Frozen section is an intraoperative rapid diagnostic tool that could direct a patient's intra- or postoperative therapy. Given the importance of frozen section in the management of surgical patients and the lack of published research in Ethiopia, it is prudent to evaluate its efficacy in our setting.Methods: A prospective diagnostic accuracy study was done on 39 samples from June 2022 to December 2022. Cases were selected based on suspicion of a neoplasm and where there was an indication to perform frozen section. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23. Findings were demonstrated using text, charts and diagrams.Results: The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of frozen section as opposed to histopathological diagnosis using paraffin-embedded samples was found to be 92.3%, 88% and 95.2%, 94.1%, 90.9%, respectively. The mean turnaround time for frozen section was found to be 23 minutes.Conclusion: The accuracy, ability to detect true positive cases, and ability to exclude false-positive cases of frozen section diagnosis in this research are consistent with most worldwide quality assurance data for frozen section. Despite its constraints, frozen section is a highly dependable method when carried out by experienced personnel, in the study context.