Abstract: OBJECTIVE To investigate the risk factors for postoperative thoracic cavity infections in patients undergoing chest closed drainage and put forward the prevention countermeasures so as to logisticprovide guidance for prevention of the thoracic cavity infections. METHODS The clinical data wee collected from 528 patients who underwent the chest closed drainage from Jan 2010 to Aug 2015 and then were investigated, the risk factors for the thoracic cavity infections were observed, and the statistical analysis of data was performed with the use of SPSS17.0 software. RESULTS Of the 528 patients, 42 had the postoperative thoracic cavity infections, with the infection rate 7.95%. The related factors for the thoracic cavity infections in the patients undergoing the chest closed drainage included the no less than 60 years of age, diabetic mellitus, hypoproteinemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, preoperative abnormal pulmonary function, drainage bottle higher than thoracic cavity, time of drainage tube indwelling more than 3 days, and no more than 10 years of experience for drainage operation (P<0.05). The logistic regression analysis indicated that the independent risk factors for the postoperative thoracic cavity infections included the complication of diabetic mellitus, complication of hypoproteinemia, complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, drainage tube higher than thoracic cavity, and prolonged drainage tube indwelling (P<0.05). CONCLUSION There are a variety of risk factors for the postoperative thoracic cavity infections in the patients undergoing the chest closed drainage. It is an effective way to actively treat the complications such as diabetic mellitus and hypoproteinemia, shorten the drainage time, and prevent the high position of the drainage bottle so as to prevent the thoracic cavity infections.