It is my great honor to be the guest editor for this special edition titled, “Postoperative complications of gastrointestinal surgery” on behalf of International Journal of Gastrointestinal Intervention (IJGII).

The postoperative complication rate of gastrointestinal surgery has been decreasing with advances in surgical techniques and perioperative patient care. However, major complications including abscess, hemorrhage, leakage, stenosis, cholangitis, and pancreatitis are sometimes occurred. The appropriate management for these complications is critically important, because it can be fatal if not properly treated.

In this edition, there are comprehensive reviews on surgical, interventional, and endoscopic management for postoperative complications. Also, the topics include lymphatic intervention because of recent advances of interventional techniques for postoperative lymphorrhea.

The authors are from four different countries and their expertise lie in the fields of surgery, endoscopy, and interventional radiology, which contributed to balanced and all-embracing review.

I hope that our readers would obtain further information about the management techniques for postoperative complications of gastrointestinal surgery. I really appreciate all the invited authors and reviewers.

Sincerely,

Yozo Sato, MD, PhD

Vice Director,

Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound & Interventional Radiology, Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo, Japan