Risk factors for infectious complications after abdominal surgery

Infections are relevant complications of surgical procedures, significantly increasing morbidity, mortality, length of stay, and financial costs. Proper risk management and preventive measures have shown to decrease the overall burden of infectious complications. Risk factors vary according to the type of complication and surgery location, making the formulation of predictive models rather difficult. Age, sex, chronic conditions, habits, and antibiotic selection are some of the preoperative risk and protective factors to consider. On the other hand, surgery duration, type of suture, need for transfusions, and closure suture techniques fall within the intraoperative risk factors. While enough evidence is available regarding a wide variety of factors, there is a lack of predictive models or consensus concerning them. Further research is needed to establish appropriate tools to decrease the incidence of postoperative infectious complications. This review aims to analyze the evidence concerning risk factors associated with postoperative infectious complications, including preoperative and intraoperative factors.