Oncologic surgical complications: Imaging approach and characteristics

Cancer is a disease that has multisystemic facets in its diagnosis and management. The treatment of choice with curative intent in many sites is surgery for early disease, commonly combined with neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment. Oncologic surgery can have both locoregional and systemic complications, occasionally accentuated by multimodality treatment. While complications are of concern in any surgical setting, they may have specific intricate implications in the care of a cancer patient. Diagnostic imaging provides a non-invasive means of detecting complications and communicating the findings to the rest of the team for decision-making. Clinical clues, site-specific considerations and visual characteristics can aid the radiologist in arriving at a diagnosis of a locoregional oncologic surgical complication. Knowledge of systemic or distant complications, their clinical and imaging characteristics is a must-know following oncologic surgery. This article as an educational narrative review addresses imaging approach and characteristics of oncologic surgical complications, by pairing clinical considerations and imaging aspects.