This brief article is going to discuss the risks involved in a circumcision. I would strongly recommend you read and watch the videos explainign how a circumcision is performed to better understand the risks.
That article can be found HERE
To better understand the risks we need to understand briefly the procedure. Very similar in mechanism to an umbilical clamp, A small ring is placed between the foreskin and head of the penis then a ligature or thick rope Is used to stop blood flowing to the foreskin. Around a week later the ring falls off.
As with all surgical procedures there are risks and benefits that need to be considered.
Some of the benefits can be found in this brief article here FIX LINK HERE
These risks can include early or late ring movement which occurs around 1 in 300 procedures. If the ring is retained then this can cause swelling and discomfort to the child and in extreme cases be a threat for potential nerve injury if untreated.
Thankfully removing the ring is straight forward and I typically ask parents to let me know if the ring has not fallen off by Day 9 after the procedure so we can begin to make plans to remove the ring for the child's comfort.
Due to the location often being pretty closely related to urine and faecal matter, infection can also occur around 1 in 60 procedures. Again this is often happily treated with syrup antibiotics which manages the infection in the vast majority of cases.
Finally the major risk is bleeding due to injury of a major artery (called the Frenular artery) which sits on the penis which can be catastrophic if it happens and this is quoted at around 1 in 2000. We can see some minor bleeding at times not related to this major vessel and this is often easily managed in the rooms.
So some serious risks to consider. It is important at this point now that you are probably scared of all the possible complications to remember that the vast majority of the time circumcisions are uneventful and the point of telling you all this is that in the unlikely event a copmlication arises that you are well informed and act quickly to alert me so we can deal with whatever needs dealing with.
The priority at all times is the safety and comfort of your little man. On that note this is why it so important that a circumcision is performed by a skilled medical practitioner and not left to an inexperienced person who may have a higher complication risk, have poorly prepared facilities or not provide the necessary aftercare should something go wrong.
If you have any further questions please use the contact form on the home page to get in touch with me and I will do my best to answer your questions.
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