Abdominal Surgery - Complications

Complications

Complications of abdominal surgery include

• bleeding,
• infection,
• post-surgical adhesions
• shock, and
• ileus, or more commonly Paralytic ileus (short-term paralysis of the bowel)

Sterile technique, aseptic post-operative care, antibiotics, and vigilant post-operative monitoring greatly reduce the risk of these complications. Planned surgery performed under sterile conditions is much less risky than that performed under emergency or unsterile conditions. The contents of the bowel are unsterile, and thus leakage of bowel contents, as from trauma, substantially increases the risk of infection.