Context: During surgical procedures, a lot of data, such as surgical device information, surgical steps, and complications, is generated. This data is difficult to store in traditional hospital information systems. Intraoperative images can be maintained in a PACS using the DICOM standard, but the relation of the image and the surgical procedure is not stored yet. DICOM Structured Reports (DICOM SR) have mainly been used for reporting findings in radiological image data, but they have the potential to simplify and standardize data management in the documentation of surgical procedures. Solution Idea: A prototype for documentation of laparoscopic cholecystectomies, cochlear implantations, and robot-assisted minimally-invasive esophagectomies (RAMIE) was developed to demonstrate the principal applicability of DICOM SR for this purpose. User requirements and clinical workflow information were collected from papers, surgical experts, and observed interventions. DICOM SR Templates for the documentation of those interventions were created and compared, leading to the development of a basic template that can be used for a variety of surgeries. Contribution: Based on a comparison of the three DICOM SR Templates for cochlear implantation, RAMIE, and cholecystectomy, a basic template for the documentation of all surgeries was created. Since surgeries differ in structure depending on their type, the basic template for the documentation of surgeries must be extended accordingly to include all the required information. DICOM SR Templates can be used to support surgical documentation. The developed generalized template can be applied to different interventions.