General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal contents including esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland (depending on local referral patterns). They also deal with diseases involving the skin, breast, soft tissue, trauma, Peripheral artery disease and hernias and perform endoscopic procedures such as gastroscopy and colonoscopy.

General surgery, despite the name, is actually a surgical specialty. General surgeons not only perform surgeries for a wide range of common ailments, but are also responsible for patient care before, during, and after surgery. All surgeons must start their training in general surgery; many then go on to focus on another specialty.

A surgeon is a physician who is trained to perform surgical procedures. It is a profession that demands exceptional manual dexterity and fine motor skills to carry out the techniques needed to investigate disease, repair or remove damaged tissues, or improve the function or appearance of an organ or body part.

Surgeons perform surgery on either an inpatient or outpatient basis. The surgeon leads a surgical team which typically includes an anesthesiologist and registered nurse but may also involve a surgical assistant, surgical technologist, circulating nurse, and cardiac perfusionist.

The surgeon is involved in all stages of surgery, including preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care.

General surgery is the treatment of injury, deformity, and disease using operative procedures. General surgery is frequently performed to alleviate suffering when a cure is unlikely through medication alone. It can be used for routine procedures performed in a physician's office, such as vasectomy, or for more complicated operations requiring a medical team in a hospital setting, such as laparoscopic cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder). Areas of the body treated by general surgery include the stomach, liver, intestines, appendix, breasts, thyroid gland, salivary glands, some arteries and veins, and the skin. The brain, heart, eyes, and feet, to name only a few, are areas that require specialized surgical repair.

New methods and techniques are less invasive than previous practices, permitting procedures that were considered impossible in the past. For example, microsurgery has been used in reattaching severed body parts by successfully reconnecting small blood vessels and nerves.