Surgery Complications
Surgery and Medical Complications
Circumcision is a surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis and as with all surgical procedures, you should be aware of the surgical complications involved. The common practice is that the foreskin is pushed over the head of the penis and clamped with a metal or plastic ring so that it does not move back. If it is a metal ring, it is removed after cutting of the foreskin and the wound heals in five to seven days. In case of a plastic ring a suture is placed tightly around the foreskin. The tissue is pushed into the groove in the plastic. Within a matter of a week the plastic falls off and you have a healed circumcision. The health care provider will normally use a local anesthesia to numb the penis. This may be a topical cream, which is less effective or an anesthetic injection may be given in the penile shaft or the base of the penis.
This appears to be a safe procedure but surgery of any sort has complications. The first is anesthesia complications. Anesthetizing is a complex process in which the dose of the administered drug has to be carefully arrived at. Any negligence or oversight in the regard may have a serious outcome. This is all the more true in case of young children. It is generally believed by proponents of circumcision that it does not cause much pain in children. The fact is that no one, not even infants, is immune to pain. If the infant does not cry it is due to shock and not because of absence of pain.
If you go by religious beliefs then you would come to believe that uncircumcised penis is a necessity. It is contended that the foreskin has no use at all. It is also suggested that the presence of the foreskin is a hindrance to satisfactory sex. However, opinions on this differ. Moreover, there is no scientific evidence to prove the claims.
In as far as circumcision is concerned complications are defined very conservatively and benefits are described generously. The fact that there are medical complications like bleeding, infection and injury are often underplayed either due to religious compulsions or some vested interests. Many hospitals report high rate of complications of circumcision.
No intrinsical value is assigned to intact penis nor is there any reason to perform surgery for removal of foreskin. Surgery complications of circumcision have a high rate, more than 20%. Risks include excessive loss of foreskin and amputation of glans penis, which may require transfusion. It is interesting to note that doctors fare no better than nurses.
There are also psychological implications of circumcision. A change in infant-mother bonding is commonly observed after removal of foreskin. There is a shortage of data as there have been few studies on this subject. Whatever is known of surgical complications of circumcision is based on information relating to immediate postoperative period prior to discharge from hospitals.