Peri-operative blood transfusion and risk of infectious complications following intestinal-cutaneous fistula surgical repair: A retrospective nationwide analysis

•Patients with intestinal-cutaneous fistula (ICF) requiring surgery.•Transfusion is associated with infectious complications in those patients.•This finding could be due to transfusion-induced immunomodulation.•Caution is required when ICF patients require intra/post-operative blood transfusion.