Background About 230 million major surgical procedures are performed worldwide each year, however surgical mortality may be between 1% and 20% in different countries and the rate of overall complications may be up to 26.9%.The leading cause of mortality is complications following major surgery with reduced functional independence and long-term survival, so there are potentially far-reaching consequences of surgical outcomes on patients. The survival among patients who develop post-operative complications varies between hospitals, suggesting both the potential and need to improve surgical outcomes. Objective To review factors of surgical outcomes. Content It may be a relationship between health care processes, resource utilization, patient-specific risk factors, and surgical outcomes. Trend It is of great importance to explore powerful factors to improve surgical outcomes.