Frozen section evaluation of cervical conization specimens

Frozen section evaluation was done on 96 conization specimens. One patient had invasive carcinoma, which was correctly diagnosed on frozen section. No patient received inappropriate therapy on the basis of an erroneous diagnosis made from the evaluation of frozen sections. The mean time from initiation of surgery to the surgeon's receipt of the frozen section diagnosis was 0.9 hours. There was no significant increase in the blood loss or intraoperative complication rate when frozen conization was added to either abdominal or vaginal hysterectomy.