Amber McKenzie asks: >>Are there any guidelines on how to do GI grossing? At what size to you bisect? Do you call 5 or more pieces multiple or do you count all the pieces? How many categories are there: 1, 2, 3, several, multiple, etc.? At what size is it considered a fragment and what size is a polyp?<<
This is very poorly standardized, and basically I can tell you my own practice. I bisect polyps 4 mm in size or greater - that's about as steady as my hands are. I count all the pieces up to about 10. I don't understand the question about categories. It's a polyp if it looks like a polyp. I don't measure specimens of ordinary size, since I cannot do it accurately. I'll sometimes refer to "a single quite small specimen." Examples of dictation: 1234. Received in fixative labeled "John Doe" and "duodenum" is a single biopsy specimen submitted in cassette A. 2345. Received in fixative labeled "Mary Doe" and "esophagus" are four biopsy specimens submitted together in cassette A. 3456. Received in fixative labeled "John Roe" and "transverse colon" is a single 5 mm dull red polyp with a very short stalk, divided longitudinally into two pieces, and entirely submitted in cassette A. As I said, that's just what I do when I gross for myself. Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Knoxville TN Received in fixative is a single biopsy specimen submitted in cassette A. _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet