What is
Circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin (prepuce) of the penis.
It is usually performed on the first or second day after birth. It becomes more complicated and riskier in infants older than 2 months and in boys and men. The procedure takes only about 5 to 10 minutes.
At the end of last century, male circumcision was the most commonly performed surgical operation in the United States. Data for 1996 reveal that no less than 60% of all US male infants were circumcised. In contrast, the rest of the industrialised world has much lower rates of this surgery. In Britain, for instance, it is performed only for religious reasons or to correct defined medical conditions.
Benefits and risks
Most of the time circumcision in infant boys is usually performed for cultural or religious reasons.
In addition, people believe that this operation provides some medical advantages.
But studies about the benefits of circumcision have provided conflicting results.
As a positive effects are revealed the followings
- uncircumcised boys under the age of five are 20 times more likely than circumcised boys to suffer infections of the urinary tract.
- circumcised men are less likely to suffer phimosis.
- they are less likely to suffer from cancer of the penis or inflammation of the penis.
- many studies indicate that circumcised men have fewer sexually transmitted diseases.
On the other hand, many opinions showed that the medical advantages are considered to be slight, because conditions such as phimosis and cancer of the penis are rare even in men who have not been circumcised. Overall, the minor benefits of circumcision seem to be contrabalanced by the minor risks so this operation is neither essential nor detrimental to a boy’s health.
Like any surgical procedure, circumcision has some risks.
However, the rate of problems after circumcision is low, the most common problems in the circumcised area are bleeding, infection and irritation.
Precautions
This operation can be performed in virtually anyone without a serious illness or unusual deformity.
Here they are some situation when this surgery should not be performed
- in infants with certain deformities of the penis that may require a portion of the foreskin for repair.
- in infants with a large hydrocoele or hernia may suffer important complications.
- premature infants or infants with serious infections are also poor candidates for circumcision.
- circumcision should not be performed on infants with hemophilia or other bleeding disorders or on infants whose mothers were taking anticoagulant