Complications after abdominal surgery

Complications after abdominal surgery are often seen in emergency departments. Many postoperative complications (e.g., infections, abscesses, hematomas, and active bleeding) are common to all types of surgery; others are specific to different types of surgery. Computed tomography (CT) is the technique normally used to diagnose postoperative complications. This article reviews the changes that occur after some of the most common abdominal interventions that can be mistaken for pathological processes, the findings that can be considered normal after surgical intervention, and the most common early complications. It also describes the optimal protocols for CT studies depending on the different types of complications that are suspected.