Evaluation of the effect of intraoperative frozen section on overall timeliness and survival in lung cancer surgery

Background/Aim: We aimed to find out whether there is any delay in the management of the process in patients operated on for lung cancer and to understand the effect of intraoperative frozen section on this process. Methods: 176 patients were analyzed in total. The dates of admission, diagnosis, operation, and postoperative pathology results were noted. Five intervals were defined as time from first evaluation to diagnosis, first evaluation to surgery, diagnosis to surgery, first evaluation to the day of the postoperative pathology report, and diagnosis to the day of the postoperative pathology report. Results: The majority of patients (81.8%) were male, and the median age was 63 years (iqr = 11). The median time between the first assessment and the final pathological examination result was 62 days (iqr = 70). The time from initial presentation to surgery was significantly shorter (p 0.001), and the time from diagnosis to final pathology was also significantly shorter (p 0.001) in patients diagnosed by frozen section. However, there was no significant difference in the time from initial evaluation to diagnosis between the two groups (0.052). There was no significant difference in survival between patients diagnosed by freezing and patients diagnosed by other methods (p = 0.508). Conclusion: Solutions to increase the timeliness of care for patients with lung cancer can be designed with a better understanding of delays. Intraoperative frozen section diagnosis improves overall timeliness but has no effect on survival in lung cancer patients undergoing surgery.