How Long Does It Take To Receive A Pathology Report?

Posted on Thu, 30 Apr 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 Answered on

Thu, 21 May 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I just had a colonoscopy today after having a bowel obstruction last month . The obstruction resolved with NG tube and fluids. Prior to that I had been have diarrhea on and off for a couple if years but I have severe allergies to lots and lots of food .
Dr told me my intestine is twisted and I HD 3 tumors one not much bigger then a polyp other to large to remove so he biopsies that and sever other areas. Does it really take 2 weeks for pathology reports to

Answered by Dr. Kathy Robinson (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
can take that long

Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for your question.
I am sorry you are having this difficulty. It depends upon the lab that pathology tissues are sent to and upon the tests that are being done. Tissues have to be prepared and stained before they can be examined by a pathologist under a microscope. Sometimes the tissue has to be frozen and sliced finely then placed on a slide and stained. All of this can take some time. Two weeks seems like a reasonable time to process tissues and get results.
I hope all of your results are normal.
Best wishes,
Dr. Robinson

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar