Postoperative recurrence and distant metastasis of gastrointestinal tumors often occur，which seriously affects the prognosis of patients and is an important problem to be solved urgently in surgery. Current studies have revealed the close relationship between inflammation and the occurrence and development of tumors. Inflammation is associated with the entire perioperative period，including preoperative tumor microenvironment-related inflammation，trauma-related inflammation，and postoperative infection-related inflammation. These inflammation can be both pro-tumor and anti-tumor. When pro-tumor inflammation becomes dominant，it can stimulate tumor recurrence in situ and reduce overall survival. Therefore，it is necessary to evaluate the tendency of perioperative inflammation. In this paper，the latest progress of basic and clinical research at home and abroad is reviewed，and the mechanism of inflammation and corresponding evaluation indexes are briefly described.