→Results This study included 1,584 patients, with an average age of 66 years, and 822 (51.9%) were male. The most common operation was anterior resection (n=470, 29.7%). A total of 1,030 patients (65.0%) underwent open surgery, and 228 patients (14.4%) had stoma formation. There were 405 patients (25.6%) in group A. Overall, SSIs occurred in 104 patients (6.6%): 69 incisional SSIs (4.4%) and 35 organ/space SSIs (2.2%). There was no significant difference in SSI rates between groups (group A vs. group B: 4.7% [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.9%–7.2%] vs. 7.2% [95% CI, 5.8%–8.8%]; P=0.078). Multivariate analysis identified 3 independent predictors of SSIs: hypoalbuminemia (odds ratio [OR], 2.53; 95% CI, 1.54–4.16; P<0.001), obesity (OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.08–3.32; P=0.026), and intraoperative blood loss greater than 400 mL (OR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.06–3.16; P=0.031).