Factors influencing the risk of complications in hand surgery: a narrative review

<b>Introduction:</b> Complications are undesirable events that interfere with the treatment process, prolong it, and often worsen the final result. Avoiding complications is not always possible, but minimizing the risk is a constant concern of the treating team.<b>Aim:</b> The aim of the study was to review the literature on risk factors for complications in hand surgery.<b>Material and methods:</b> Randomized clinical trials, observational studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses found in PubMed and Medline databases published in the last 10 years were reviewed.<b>Results:</b> Complications after hand surgery are relatively rare, occurring in about 2-3% of patients. The patient's poor general health, diabetes, obesity, and smoking significantly increase the risk of complications, particularly infection. Severe systemic diseases increase the risk of systemic complications. However, patients with such burdens are rarely operated on. Anticoagulation and immunosuppression increase the risk of local complications. Surgeon's experience, fatigue, or sleep deprivation may affect the risk of postoperative complications. However, the actual impact of these variables is unclear.<b>Conclusions:</b> Complications after hand surgery are rare, and knowing the factors that increase the risk of their occurrence allows one to avoid them.