The main objective of this study is to epidemiologically characterize infections at the surgical site of La Guajira, Colombia, 2016-2017, based on a quantitative methodology with a descriptive and retrospective scope. This interest arises from the current scenario around surgical site infections (SSI), which are a source of clinical and economic problems for health systems, as well as the second largest group of nosocomial infections, which increases the time of stay in a hospital and post-surgical morbidity and mortality (1).