Evaluation of the difference in surgical margin values in excisional skin lesions during surgery and after formalin fixation

Background: Surgical margin determination in malignant lesions is essential and has a direct impact on the choice of postoperative treatments and patient follow-up. Therefore, the processes affecting this variable are worth exploring. This study aimed to evaluate the difference in surgical margin values in excisional skin samples during surgery and after formalin fixation. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on forty randomly selected patients with benign and malignant skin lesions who were referred to the plastic surgery ward of Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad from November 2018 to January 2019. Malignant and benign skin lesions were excised with a healthy margin, then the specimens were sent to the pathologist in a formalin-containing container. The amount of tissue shrinkage and the factors affecting them were compared. Results: Among all 40 participants about 57.5% of the them were male and 42.5% were female. The mean age of the patients was 66.55±14.53 years. Surgical margin was evaluated in three patterns: before surgical incision and after surgical incision (P