There is no difference between intraoperative and postoperative pathology for most thyroid cancers, but postoperative pathology is generally more accurate than intraoperative thyroid cancer pathology. Intraoperative pathology in thyroid surgery is performed when the tissue that has become diseased is removed during surgery and examined in the first instance, and the analysis of the diseased tissue is performed by a specialized physician to determine the severity of the diseased tissue. Pathologic tissue in thyroid surgery is relatively short-lived. Postoperative pathology for thyroid cancer is performed after the surgery and usually takes longer, but is more accurate compared to pathology during thyroid surgery. There are limitations on the amount of tissue that can be removed during surgery, and it is difficult to remove all of the diseased tissue, so there may be a difference between intraoperative and postoperative pathology. Patients who want to quickly determine the severity of the diseased tissue can choose intraoperative thyroid cancer pathology, but the accuracy is limited. If you want to accurately determine the severity of thyroid cancer, you can choose postoperative pathology, which is relatively more accurate.