The aim of this study was to compare risk factors for the development of surgical nosocomial infections in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. We prospectively collected surveillance data from patients who underwent colorectal surgery in the Ondokuz Mayıs University Hospital, Samsun, Turkey, between February and December 2007. Totally 161 surgical interventions were performed and overall 43 (%27) surgical nosocomial infections were identified. Of these infections 30 were involved with the incision line and 13 were classified as organ-space associated. Age, hospital stay days and transfusion were risk factors for these infections.