Medical Oncologist
CION Cancer Clinics
Complications of cancer surgery and how common they are | CION Cancer Clinics
Some complication after cancer surgery is common, and most are minor problems that settle with simple treatment. Serious complications are less common. How likely they are depends mainly on the size of the operation and your health before it, so no single rate fits everyone. This page explains the usual problems, when they appear, what raises the risk, and what to ask your surgeon. CION Cancer Clinics’ surgical oncologists in Hyderabad can talk this through with you.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Muralidhar MuddusettyConsultant Surgical Oncologist · MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery, AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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On this page
- How common are complications after cancer surgery?
- What kinds of complications happen after cancer surgery?
- Which complications are minor and which are serious?
- What makes complications more likely for one person than another?
- When do complications usually show up?
- What do families often believe about complications?
- What do the words on the consent form mean?
- Common questions about complications after cancer surgery
The short answer
How common are complications after cancer surgery?
Some complication after cancer surgery is common, and most are minor problems that settle with simple treatment. Serious complications are less common, and how likely they are depends mostly on the size of the operation and on your health going into it.
Why there is no single number
A day-care removal of a skin lump and an operation on the food pipe are both called cancer surgery. Their risks are not in the same range at all. Any figure you read online is an average across thousands of people, many operations and many hospitals. It cannot tell you what your own chance is.
Where your own figure comes from
Your surgeon is the right person to give you a range for your operation. That range should take account of your age, your heart and lungs, diabetes, weight, smoking, and any chemotherapy or radiotherapy you have had before. Ask for it at the consent appointment. Ask what the commonest problems are, not only the rarest ones.
What this page cannot tell you
This page explains the kinds of complications that happen, when they tend to show, and what makes them more likely. It cannot tell you whether surgery is right for you. That decision belongs to you and your treating team, weighed against what happens without the operation.
A complication is not the same as a mistake. Many happen even when everything was done correctly.What can happen
What kinds of complications happen after cancer surgery?
Some can follow almost any operation. Others belong to one kind of surgery only. Your surgeon will tell you which apply to you.
Wound problems
The cut can become red, hot and sore, leak fluid or open up. A wound infection usually settles with dressings and sometimes antibiotics.
Chest infection
Lying still and shallow breathing because of pain let phlegm collect in the lungs. It is more likely after surgery on the chest or upper abdomen, and in people who smoke.
Blood clots
Cancer and surgery both make the blood clot more easily. A clot in the leg can travel to the lung. This is why you are given stockings, injections and asked to walk early.
Bleeding
Some bleeding is expected. Heavier bleeding in the first hours or days may need a blood transfusion, and sometimes a return to the operating theatre.
A leak from a join
When a part of the bowel, stomach or food pipe is removed, the ends are joined. If the join does not heal fully, it can leak.
Only relevant after
- Bowel and rectal surgery
- Stomach and food pipe surgery
- Pancreas surgery
A slow bowel
After abdominal surgery the gut can take time to wake up, causing bloating and vomiting. It usually settles with rest for the gut and a drip.
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Which complications are minor and which are serious?
Usually minor
Usually more serious
A small wound infection treated with dressings
A deep infection or collection of pus that needs draining
Feeling sick and a slow return of appetite
A leak from a join inside the abdomen
Some oozing from the wound or drain
Bleeding that needs a transfusion or a return to theatre
Difficulty passing urine for a day or two after the catheter comes out
A clot that travels to the lung
Short-lived confusion in an older person
Sepsis, where infection spreads and affects the whole body
Your own risk
What makes complications more likely for one person than another?
The operation itself matters most. Long operations, operations inside the chest or abdomen, and operations that join two parts of the gut carry more risk than surgery on the surface of the body.
Things about your health
Heart and lung disease, poorly controlled diabetes, kidney problems, heavy weight loss before surgery and low blood counts all raise the risk. So do smoking and regular drinking. Older age matters less than general fitness. A fit person in their seventies may do better than an unfit person twenty years younger.
Treatment you have already had
Chemotherapy or radiotherapy before surgery can make tissue slower to heal. The team plans the timing of surgery around this, and may take extra steps to protect a join.
Some of it can be changed
Stopping smoking, walking every day, eating enough protein and getting blood sugar under control in the weeks before surgery can help. Ask your team whether a period of preparation, sometimes called prehabilitation, would suit you. It does not suit everyone, because some cancers should not wait.
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The timing
When do complications usually show up?
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In theatre and the first hours
Bleeding and reactions to anaesthesia are the main concerns. You are watched closely in recovery or intensive care, where they are picked up quickly.
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The first few days
Chest infections, urine infections and a slow bowel tend to appear here. Getting out of bed, deep breathing and good pain control are the main ways to prevent them.
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Towards the end of the first week
Leaks from a join and deeper infections often show at this stage, sometimes as a fever, a fast heartbeat or pain that is getting worse instead of better.
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After you go home
Wound infections and blood clots can appear once you are home. This is why you are given a list of warning signs and a number to call on the day you leave.
Commonly believed
What do families often believe about complications?
"If there was a complication, the surgeon must have made a mistake."
Most complications happen even when the operation was done well. Healing depends on the body as well as the surgery. What matters is that problems are spotted early and treated quickly, and that the team explains clearly what happened.
"The consent form lists so many risks that the operation must be very dangerous."
The form lists rare problems as well as common ones, because you have a right to know about both. The length of the list says little about how likely any one problem is. Ask which ones are common for your operation.
"Once we are discharged, the risky part is over."
Some complications only show after you are home. Keep the discharge sheet somewhere the whole family can find it, and come back the same day if a warning sign on it appears.
"Asking about complications will upset the surgeon."
A good surgeon expects the question. Asking what can go wrong, and what the team does if it does, is part of making an informed decision.
On your consent form
What do the words on the consent form mean?
- Complication
- Any problem after surgery that was not part of the planned recovery. It ranges from a sore wound to a return to theatre.
- Anastomosis
- The join made between two ends of the gut or another tube after a section has been removed.
- Return to theatre
- A second operation, usually within days, to stop bleeding, drain an infection or repair a leak.
- Readmission
- Coming back into hospital after discharge because of a problem linked to the operation.
- Sepsis
- An infection that has started to affect the whole body. It needs urgent hospital treatment.
- Blood clot (DVT or PE)
- A clot in a deep vein of the leg, or one that has travelled to the lung.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about complications after cancer surgery
What is the complication rate for cancer surgery?
There is no single rate, because cancer surgery covers everything from a small skin operation to major surgery on the food pipe or pancreas. Minor problems are common after larger operations. Serious ones are less common. Ask your surgeon for the range that applies to your own operation and your own health.
Are complications more likely in older patients?
Age on its own matters less than fitness. Heart and lung disease, diabetes, weakness and memory problems raise the risk, and these are more common with age. An older person who walks every day and eats well may recover as smoothly as someone much younger. The anaesthetist checks this before surgery.
Can we lower the risk before the operation?
Often, yes. Stopping smoking, walking daily, eating enough protein and controlling blood sugar all help. Tell the team about every medicine you take, including blood thinners and herbal remedies. Do not stop or change any medicine on your own. The surgeon and your prescribing doctor will tell you what to do.
Does keyhole surgery have fewer complications?
Keyhole surgery often means smaller wounds, less pain and a shorter stay. The risks inside the body, such as a leak or bleeding, depend more on what is removed than on the size of the cuts. It does not suit every tumour. Ask your surgeon why they suggest one approach over the other.
Will a complication delay chemotherapy or radiotherapy?
It can. Treatment after surgery usually starts once the wound has healed and you have recovered enough strength. A serious complication may push that back. Your oncologist will weigh the delay against your recovery, and will explain what the change means for your plan.
Who pays if there is a complication?
This depends on your hospital package, insurance policy or scheme. Aarogyasri, CGHS, ECHS, EHS and cashless insurance each treat extra days and procedures differently. Ask the billing desk before surgery what happens to the cost if you stay longer or need a second procedure.
Should we ask how many of these operations the surgeon does?
Yes. It is a fair question, and a surgeon should be comfortable answering it. You can also ask how often their patients need a return to theatre, how problems are picked up after discharge, and who you call at night if something changes at home.
How will we know if something is going wrong at home?
You should leave hospital with a written list of warning signs. These usually include fever, a red or leaking wound, breathlessness, chest pain, a swollen calf, vomiting, and pain that is getting worse. If any appears, call the team or come back the same day. Do not wait for the next appointment.
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Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vinay Mamidala
MBBS, MS(General Surgery), M.Ch(Surgical Oncology), FMAS, FARIS(Ongoing)
Surgical Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Hematologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vajja Sandeep Kumar
MBBS, MS (General Surgery), DrNB (Surgical Oncology), FALS Oncology
Surgical Oncologist
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Sources
- National Cancer Institute — Surgery to treat cancer
- American Cancer Society — Cancer surgery
- Cancer Research UK — Surgery for cancer
- Cancer.Net — What to expect when having surgery
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
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