Objective To explore the risk factors of early recurrence of HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HBV-HCC) after operation and to build a prediction model. Methods A total of 100 patients with HBV-HCC who underwent surgical treatment at Nanyang Central Hospital from June 2021 to June 2024 were selected. Based on the postoperative recurrence status, the cohort was stratified into a recurrent cohort (n＝30) and a non-recurrent cohort (n＝70). The age, sex, diabetes, liver cirrhosis,drinking, platelet count (PLT)＜100×109/L, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR)＞2.5, blood transfusion, margin＜1 cm, tumor size, operation mode, intraoperative blood loss, microvascular invasion (MVI), positive programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), postoperative complications and regular exercise were compared between the two groups. Results The rate of surgical margin＜1 cm and positive microvascular invasion, as well as the intraoperative blood loss in the recurrent group were significantly higher than those in the non-recurrent group (all P＜0.05). The results showed that the surgical margin＜1 cm, intraoperative blood loss and microvascular invasion were the independent risk factindependentors for the early postoperative recurrence of HBV-associated HCC [odds ratio (OR) was 2.752, 2.258 and 1.863, all P＜0.05]. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) predicted by the model was 0.914(95%CI: 0.846～0.953), the sensitivity was 81.11%, and the specificity was 92.32%. Conclusion Surgical margin＜1 cm, increased intraoperative blood loss and positive MVI are all the independent risk factors for early postoperative recurrence of HBV-HCC.