SURGICAL PATHOLOGY

I. SKIN

Skin Excisions

• Done for diagnosis purposes or to completely remove a lesion

• Usually shaped as circle or ellipse

• Surgical Margin

  • Definition: the resection margin or rim of the tissue that includes all the soft tissue that was cut by the surgeon

  • The surgical margin can be positive, close or negative.

• Dermatological specimens are usually oriented by the surgeon with sutures using the clock system, with the 12 o’ clock at the most superior aspect and the 6 o’clock at the most inferior aspect. When inking it’s important to ink according to the surgeon’s orientation so that the pathologist can give the surgeon details about lesions examined microscopically. When necessary the surgeon can perform re-excision using the details from the orientation and the pathologist’s microscopic findings.

Sources:

1. Lemos, Monica B., and Ekene Okoye, Atlas Of Surgical Pathology Grossing (Atlas Of Anatomic Pathology), Springer Nature Switzerland SG, 2019

2. https://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/

   diagnosis/margins

3. https://images.app.goo.gl/qEipRE8uxtVDDBb97