Yes, you can include that surgery in your medical expenses to the extent that it was not covered by insurance or other credits. Note that medical expenses are just one of many itemized deductions and are only includable to the extent that they exceed 10% (7.5 % if you or your spouse are 65 or over) of your AGI.
Deductions such as medical expenses, charitable
contributions, mortgage interest, property taxes, state and local income or
sales taxes and others are what is known as “itemized deductions”. You can see a more complete list of all these
deductions, at least the most common, by looking at Schedule A of Form
1040. They are used to reduce your
taxable income. The total of all your
itemized deductions must exceed your standard deduction to be of any tax benefit. Anyone filing a Federal income tax return
(other than children under the age of 24 with unearned income) is entitled to
the standard deduction. The standard
deduction for 2016 is $6,300 Single and $12,600 Married Filing Jointly.