[Prevention of Complications Following Surgical Procedures of the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract].

Surgical procedures of the upper gastrointestinal tract remain associated with substantial perioperative morbidity, particularly after oesophagectomy and gastrectomy. This review outlines current evidence that prevention of complications should be understood as a phase-spanning concept integrating preoperative optimisation, intraoperative quality assurance, and postoperative standardisation. Prehabilitation, nutritional optimisation, and risk-adapted patient preparation may reduce overall and pulmonary complications and may also lower the risk of anastomotic leakage in selected settings. Intraoperatively, minimally invasive and robotic approaches can reduce morbidity, especially respiratory complications, while adjunctive measures such as perfusion assessment, leak testing, endoscopic control, and procedure-specific technical strategies, may further improve safety. Postoperatively, ERAS pathways, early oral or enteral nutrition, and structured rescue strategies contribute to faster recovery without increasing anastomosis-related complications. In addition, volume-outcome data indicate that hospital and surgeon caseload, together with the ability to rescue patients after complications, represent key system-level determinants of perioperative outcomes. Overall, the available evidence supports a comprehensive perioperative safety pathway rather than isolated individual measures for effective prevention of complications in upper gastrointestinal surgery.