[Intraoperative frozen section diagnosis of head and neck tumors: possibilities, limitations, pitfalls and tips for the daily practice].

Intraoperative consultation (synonym: frozen section diagnostics) has increasingly gained significance for the daily practice in head and neck surgery. The main aim of this investigation method which is usually associated with much stress and effort is to facilitate an optimal and timely oncological surgical treatment of neoplastic diseases with a minimum rate of postoperative functional disturbance. In order to achieve this purpose pathologists are expected to deliver as much correct information as possible to accurately influence intraoperative surgical decisions. At the same time this aim should be reached without significantly and unnecessarily increasing the workload for the pathology laboratory and without significantly inducing tissue artifacts. This would otherwise negatively influence the tissue quality for permanent section examination and consequently the overall quality of diagnosis and tumor staging. Thus, the quality and efficacy of frozen sections span a spectrum with the highest quality having the least possible false negative rate on the one hand and a false positive result of approximately zero on the other hand. Sticking to this approach would result in a high positive impact on the surgical treatment of a variety of neoplastic diseases and help to minimize or even eliminate the rate of medicolegal consequences.