Abstract
Thyroid nodules are a very common clinical condition. The 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines recommend surgical excision for Bethesda IV nodules. The use of intraoperative frozen section (FS) has been recommended as a strategy to tailor the extent of the initial surgery. We critically evaluated the literature that discusses the utility and cost-effectiveness of FS to make an intraoperative decision in patients with thyroid nodules classified as follicular neoplasm. FS should not be recommended as a routine intraoperative test to assess for malignancy in thyroid follicular patterned lesions due to its low performance; the high number of deferred results; the inability to adequately assess histologically defining features; the improvements in risk stratification guiding total thyroidectomy; and the low cost-effectiveness of FS.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 76-81 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Surgical Oncology |
Volume | 36 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2021 |
Keywords
- Carcinoma
- Follicular neoplasm
- Frozen section
- Thyroid nodule
- Thyroidectomy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Oncology