Objective To conduct an analysis and identify potential risk factors associated with postoperative complications in patients diagnosed with malignant gastrointestinal tumors who underwent laparoscopic surgery. Methods From January 2023 to October 2023, 500 patients with malignant gastrointestinal tumors who underwent laparoscopic surgery at the Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of PLA General Hospital were prospectively selected as the research objects. The incidence of postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo gradeⅡ and higher) was observed, and then 500 patients were divided into a complication group and a non-complication group. The preoperative physical conditions, operative time and bleeding volume related to the operation were compared and analyzed between the two groups. According to the analysis results and clinical experience, appropriate variables were selected to be included in the multivariate binary logistic regression model for analysis, in order to determine the risk factors for postoperative complications in patients with malignant gastrointestinal tumors. Results Of the 500 patients, 453 had no postoperative complications (non-complication group), and 47 had postoperative complications (complication group), with an incidence of 9.4%. Univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences between the complication group and the non-complications group in gender, abdominal girth, preoperative hypoalbuminemia, drinking history, protein diet habits, primary diseases, operative time and intraoperative blood loss (P<0.05), while there were no significant differences between the two groups in age, body mass index, preoperative grip strength, 6 m walking test time, preoperative anemia, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, smoking history, education level, exercise habits and preoperative NRS 2002 nutritional score (P>0.05). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that gender, daily protein diet and exercise frequency, operation time >200 min and intraoperative blood loss >150 mL could be used as independent predictors of postoperative complications in patients with malignant gastrointestinal tumors (P<0.05). Conclusion For female malignant gastrointestinal tumor patients with low daily protein intake, inadequate physical activity, prolonged operation duration, and massive intraoperative bleeding, perioperative management should be taken in advance and the occurrence of postoperative complications should be vigilant.