Surgical intervention remains a trauma for patients even given modern
techniques and the use of highly specialized instruments. Any surgical maneuver can
cause injuries and complications. The severity of such injuries is determined by the
disease itself, the patient's comorbidities and the surgeon's experience. In this chapter,
we present the iatrogenic complications arising following major surgeries performed
openly or laparoscopically. In the first section, general complications, such as
hemorrhage, fever, ileus and abscesses, are presented. Next, organ-related
complications occurring during laparotomy, drainage of the abdominal cavity or
abdominal wall reconstruction are described in detail. We then turn to the specific
intra- and postoperative complications of various organs’ surgical treatment due to
erroneous surgery indications, vascular lesions and lesions of the neighboring organs.
We describe complications in the surgery of the mediastinum, thoracic and abdominal
cavity and describe the particularities of thyroid, lung, esophagus, stomach, small
intestine, appendix, colon, pancreas, hepatobiliary tract and hernia surgery and
postoperative parietal defects. Complications occurring as a result of laparoscopic
intervention, erroneous indications or complications in performing pneumoperitoneum
during insertion of the trocars are also presented. Finally, we consider the specific
iatrogenic complications arising during minimally invasive bile, hiatal hernia, cardiac
achalasia, spleen and morbid obesity (gastric sleeve and gastroplication) surgery.
Keywords: Abscess, Chylothorax, Duodenal stump insufficiency, Fistula,
Hematoma of the scrotum, Hemoperitoneum, Hemopneumothorax, Mediastinitis,
Pancreas, Peritonitis, Suture dehiscence.
