 Surgical site infection SSI is the most frequent complication in patients that undergo abdominal surgery. A previous prospective observational study in 167 patients undergoing elective open abdominal procedures showed that case-relevant communication protects from organspace SSI whereas case-irrelevant communication during the last 20 minutes of the procedure is a risk factor for incisional SSI. Therefore, the introduction of a clinical applicable intervention structured briefing using the StOP protocol has been developed and was tested in pilot experiments. This intervention aims at improving case-relevant communication during the procedure and to reduce excess case-irrelevant communication at the end of an operation. 