This brief describes the types and volume of major surgical services provided in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) across four regionally representatives states in 2011. Of the surgery volume performed in CAHs, on average 77% was performed on an outpatient basis and 23% inpatient. Operations on the musculoskeletal system, the eye, and the digestive system accounted for 67% of all surgical procedures performed in CAHs. Most reports of surgery volume in CAHs focus on inpatient procedures, thus missing a significant portion of the surgery volume that CAHs perform. CAHs offering outpatient procedures that complement inpatient surgical capacity are providing the communities they serve significant and valuable services through access to both convenient and emergent surgical care services that lessen many of the healthcare burdens associated with travel for surgery and follow-up care.