Pain relief practices across providers of circumcision vary greatly between providers ranging from a full general anaesthetic by surgeons in an operating theatre to reports of some providers not using any anaesthetic at all.
I consider this procedure in the same way I think about any surgical procedure which means I absolutely want to do everything possible to ensure the patient (your son) is as comfortable as can be during the procedure.
This starts immediately after the consultation where we can begin by using some paracetamol to manage the child's discomfort in a fairly common way.
I then use a special mix of local anaesthetic to administer what is called a Dorsal Penile Nerve Block which provides 2-4 hours of complete elimintation of any sharp sensations of pain during and after the procedure. This is done by inserting some anaesthetic using a needle into the area where the penis meets the groin and is the typically the only sharp pain the child will experience during the procedure.
After this we use either a prepared bottle of milk provided by the parents or some "Sucrose" which is a medical blend of sugar that is proven to be effective or pain relief in children under the age of 12 months during painful procedures and is often used in hospital or children who are undergoing painful procedures.
This combination of measures ensures that the child avoids any sensation of sharp pain and will only be aware of pressure/movement as well as temperature changes in the surgical area. It is worth noting that often children that are less that 6 weeks of age can at times fall asleep during the procedure!!!
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