[What to do with surgically removed tissues: send it to the pathologist or put it in the medical waste container?]

Abstract

Clinicians are sometimes in doubt whether or not to send routinely removed tissue to the pathologist, as not every pathological investigation produces relevant findings. It is not easy, however, to select specimens to be investigated. The cost effectiveness of pathological examination should be investigated prospectively in relation to other clinical diagnostic procedures, e.g. if it is decided that it is not cost effective to take biopsies during endoscopy, it may be questioned whether the endoscopy itself is cost effective.