Who Audits Who Using Resection Margins: The Surgeon, or the Pathologist?

Abstract

Clear or involved resection margins have significant bearings on the outcome of colorectal cancer cases. There are two aspects of resection margins: longitudinal and circumferential. Pathological staging for rectal and colonic tumour specimens is a useful tool for providing continuous feedback to surgeons and may serve to improve the quality of surgery and pathology reporting. It is expected that a good pathology report will evaluate and audit the quality of other services such as radiology, surgery, and oncology. The aim of this paper is to outline how this parameter can be audited by surgeons and pathologists to improve both communication and standards.