Complications in Surgery – Let’s Face Them

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Abstract
Patients admitted to a surgical ward have a chance of more than 10% to encounter a severe adverse effect of their treatment [1]. For some types of gastrointestinal surgery the risk of complication can be as high as 50%. Some of these complications, as superficial wound infection after surgery for perforated viscera, are rather frequent but will only minimally effect the immediate outcome of treatment, although incisional hernias may result. Other complications, such as iatrogenic bile duct injury after laparoscópic cholecystectomy, are infrequent but have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the treatment. Iatrogenic bile duct injury can lead to reinterventions, that vary from endoscopic papillotomy to liver transplantation and can lead to severe impairment of the patient’s quality of life, even after successful interventions or repair [2].