Purpose: Oral lesions usually lead to a diagnostic dilemma. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is an important diagnostic aid for making a preoperative diagnosis of oral lesions. It does not supplant histopathology but augments it.

Materials and methods: FNAC of oral lesions was undertaken in 45 patients, and all the lesions were subjected to histopathologic examination. Aspiration was performed with 23- to 25-gauge needles held in a Cameco syringe holder (Amar Udyog, Chandigarh, India).

Results: We diagnosed benign lesions in 22 cases, malignant lesions in 15, and inflammatory lesions in 7 by FNAC, whereas in 1 case the specimen was insufficient for diagnosis. One result was false negative, but there was no false-positive result. Specificity and sensitivity of FNAC were 95.45% and 93.75%, respectively. FNAC gave a diagnostic accuracy of 90.0% for benign lesions, 94.0% for malignant lesions, and 100% for inflammatory lesions.

Conclusion: The procedure does not have any side effects or complications. Hence FNAC can be used as a reliable diagnostic aid for oral lesions because it is safe, accurate, convenient, and cost-effective.

Conflict of interest: None declared.