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Numerous medical studies have tried to assess the effects of circumcision. Several professional medical organizations are putting the evidence of medical benefits and risks of circumcision under an increasing level of scrutiny.

Possible Complications of Circumcision

The complications listed here are known to have occurred at least once, and have been reported in medical journals. They may or may not occur in a particular operation. Because circumcision is a surgical operation the complications from it are many and varied. Williams & Kapila state: "the literature abounds with reports of morbidity and even death as a result of circumcision."* Complications may be immediate or delayed. The immediate complications may be further classified into surgical mishap, hemorrhage, infection and anesthetic risk.

Immediate Complications

  • Surgical mishap
Mistakes can happen with any surgery. Surgical mistakes from circumcision include documented cases of penile denudationcutting off part or all of the glans penisurethral fistula[http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/baskin/" target="_blank" >* and penile necrosis which results in loss of the entire penis.
  • Hemorrhage
Bleeding after circumcision is usually minor and easily controlled, but on rare occasions it has led to shock from blood loss (hypovolemic shock) or death (exsanguination) *." target="_blank" >Coagulation disorders affect from 2 to 4 per cent of the population and the condition is underdiagnosed *.
  • Infection
Infections are usually minor and local, but they have led to urinary tract infectionlife-threatening systemic infections meningitis*" target="_blank" >or death [http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/cleary/.

Staphylococcal infections are a growing problem in hospitals, *" target="_blank" >strains of s.aureus have affected neonatal nurseries. There is some evidence that golden staph (Staphylococcus aureus) infections may be more common in circumcised infants *" target="_blank" >and another found no difference (Pediatr Res 1989; 25: 193A). Boys have been found to be far more susceptible to golden staph infections than girls and methicillin susceptible strains (MSSA) have infected circumcision wounds. Enzenauer stated: "Circumcision, which is performed on approximately 90 per cent of male infants born in our hospital, may be a factor. Circumcision, by its very nature. requires more staff-patient "hands-on" contact, both during the procedure and during preoperative and postoperative care." [http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/enzenauer2/

Images of an infant with a life threatening s.aureus infection may be found here *.

Herpes Metzizah b'peh, (oral suction) is practised by a minority of Jewish circumcisers It has been linked with 8 cases of herpes infection in Israeli infants, one of whom suffered brain damage *." target="_blank" >In New York, there were three cases of herpes linked with oral metzizah where one baby died and one suffered brain damage *

The Israeli researchers said:

"We support ritual circumcision but without oral metzitzah, which might endanger the newborns and is not part of the religious procedure," write researcher Benjamin Gesundheit, MD, of Ben Gurion University in Israel, and colleagues *.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said:

Because there is no proven way to reduce the risk of herpes infection posed by metzitzah b'peh, the Health Department recommends that infants being circumcised not undergo metzitzah b'peh. * (emphasis in the original)

  • Anesthetic risk
Anesthetic risk includes methaemglobinaemia** .

Infection and bleeding are by far the most common complications. Other immediate complications are extremely rare if the operator is competent and experienced.

Delayed Complications

  • Tightness of the foreskin, which prevents it from being moved back over the head of the penis (phimosis)*;
  • Concealed penis *;
  • Adhesions *;
  • Skin bridge *;
  • Painful erections. *

Some suggest that the opening to the urethra (meatus) may also be affected, leading to inflammation (meatitis)meatal ulcerationmeatal stenosis**." target="_blank" >Some also argue that anger over being circumcised as a child is also a complication of circumcision.[http://www.cirp.org/news/penthouse11-01-01/

Pain, stress, trauma, and interference with breastfeeding initiation

The American Academy of Pediatrics' policy states:

Some common painful minor procedures, such as circumcision, do not always receive the warranted attention to comfort issues. Available research indicates that newborn circumcisions are a significant source of pain during the procedure and are associated with irritability and feeding disturbances during the days afterward. Opportunities for alleviating pain exist before, during, and after the procedure, and many interventions are effective.*
-- The Assessment and Management of Acute Pain in Infants, Children and Adolescents, 2001.

Many studies have examined adverse effects of the procedure; some employing various forms of pain relief. A few of these findings are summarised in the following table.

Study1Effects noted Unstated
Marshall (1982) *Brief and transitory effects on mother-infant interactions observed during hospital feeding sessions.
No pain relief
Howard (1994) *Significant increases in heart rate, respiratory rate, and crying. Deteriorated feeding behaviour.
Taddio (1997) *Stronger pain response during vaccination 4 to 6 months later.
Lander (1997) *Sustained elevation of heart rate and high-pitched cry. Choking and apnea in 2 infants.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol/Paracetamol)
Howard (1994) *Significant increases in heart rate, respiratory rate, and crying. Deteriorated feeding behaviour. Improved comfort after postoperative period.
Taddio (1997) *Stronger pain response during vaccination 4 to 6 months later, though attenuated as compared to placebo.
EMLA (topical anaesthetic)
Lander (1997) *Significantly less crying and lower heart rates compared with those circumcised without anaesthetic (see above).
Dorsal penile nerve block (DPNB)
Kirya (1978) * Circumcision pain eliminated except when the injection needle was misplaced.
Lander (1997) *Significantly less crying and lower heart rates than circumcision without anaesthetic. Not effective during foreskin separation and incision.
Ring block
Lander (1997) *Significantly less crying and lower heart rates than circumcision without anaesthetic. Equally effective through all stages of the circumcision

1 Studies investigating several forms of pain relief have one entry for each form.

Howard et al report that neonatal circumcision without anaesthesia and using acetaminophen (Tylenol) results in deteriorated breast-feeding immedately after circumcision.* They commented:

Numerous studies have shown that circumcision causes severe intraoperative pain as measured by changes in crying, heart rate, respiratory rate, transcutaneous PO2, and cortisol levels ...*... Neonatal circumcision are often performed on the day of discharge with many neonates leaving the hospital 3 to 6 hours postoperatively. Thus the observed deterioration in ability to breast-feed may potentially contribute to breast-feeding failure. Furthermore some neonates in this study required formula supplementation because of maternal frustration with attempts at breast-feeding, or because the neonate was judged unable to breast-feed postoperatively. This finding is disconcerting because early formula supplementation is associated with decreased breast-feeding duration.

Howard et al. concluded that:

Acetaminophen was not found to ameliorate either the intra-operative or the immediate postoperative pain of circumcision, although it seems that it may provide some benefit after the postoperative period.*

Many other studies have investigated the pain caused by circumcision, and the effectiveness of different forms of analgesia and anaesthesia.

Taddio et al reported behavioural changes (heightened pain responses) during vaccinations in children circumcised with EMLA cream and with no anaethesia at the 99.9+% statistical confidence level (p<0.001) four to six months after their circumcision, suggesting a persistent effect on pain response. * The researchers commented:

"Study of the vaccination pain response of infants who had received more effective circumcision pain management (i.e., dorsal penile nerve block and adequate postoperative pain management) would be interesting."

Kirya and Werthmann investigated the effect of dorsal penile nerve block (DPNB), describing it as "painless".However, Lander et al found that DPNB is less effective than ring block.[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9417009&query_hl=1

Marshall et al report that the stress of neonatal circumcision may alter feeding behaviour and some male infants may be unable to breastfeed after circumcision.* They commented:

Despite differences between control and experimental infants shortly after surgery, by 24 h post-operatively no significant differences were observed between the groups. The behavioral effects of circumcision in the present study were immediate but brief. This should be comforting information to those who provide care for newborns and for their parents.*

Marshall et al did not report whether anaesthesia was used.

Possible protections gained by circumcision

Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer rates vary greatly. They are lowest in South and East Asia, higher in Europe - though the rates vary widely between countries - and highest in the United States In the USA, prostate cancer is the second most common male cancer, with a lifetime risk of 1 in 6 and rising.prostate cancer is least common in Asian men, more common in European men and most common in Black men *" target="_blank" >*.

Neither the American Cancer Society nor the professional medical organizations' policy statements on circumcision that are cited in this article mention a relationship between prostate cancer and circumcision status.

Early ecological studies suggested that circumcision may have a protective effect against prostate cancer. Ravich and Ravich Y State J Med. 1951 Jun 15;51(12):1519-20. reported on patients operated on for prostatic obstruction. In Jews, 1.8% of obstructions were cancerous, compared with 19% of non-Jews. * Apt. in Sweden, concluded that uncircumcised males were at approximately twice the risk.. Ecological studies are considered unreliable but later case-control studies obtained results as follows:

Ross et al. of the National Cancer Institute. 1987 May;78(5):869-74 reported on two case-control studies, both in Southern California. Both studies included 142 cases. In both studies, circumcised men were at reduced risk (relative risk of 0.5 in whites and 0.6 in blacks).*

Mandel & Schuman Gerontology. 1987 May;42(3):259-64.reported on a case-control study with 250 cases. When compared to controls drawn from their neighborhood, circumcised men were less likely to develop prostate cancer (odds ratio 0.82). *

Ewings & Bowie J Cancer. 1996 Aug;74(4):661-6 performed a case-control study of 159 cases of prostate cancer, and found that circumcised men were at a reduced risk (odds ratio 0.62) *. They noted: "...some statistically significant associations were found, although these can only be viewed as hypothesis generating in this context."

Penile cancer

Penile cancer is a rare form of cancer. Annually, there is one case in 100 000 men in developed countries. [http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_the_key_statistics_for_penile_cancer_35.asp?sitearea= The overall five-year survival rate for all stages of penile cancer is about 50 per cent.

One 1980 study estimated that the lifetime risk of an uncircumcised man developing invasive penile cancer (IPC) is one in 600 This was more than 3 times higher than for males neonatally circumcised. *" target="_blank" >[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8260177&dopt=Abstract

Childhood circumcision has been associated with a reduced incidence of penile cancer in numerous studies. *" target="_blank" >*" target="_blank" >[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10699138&dopt=Abstract

Circumcision has been associated with a lower incidence of Human Papilloma Virus infection in males in several studies. HPV infection is a known risk factor in the development of penile cancer.*" target="_blank" >[http://sti.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/78/3/215

Positions of medical organisations

The American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association of Family Physicians, Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and the Canadian Pediatric Society state that circumcision reduces the risk of penile cancer.

The American Medical Association and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians both stated that the use of infant circumcision to prevent penile cancer alone in adulthood is not justified. [http://www.racp.edu.au/hpu/paed/circumcision/print.htm

The American Cancer Society stated::

In the past, circumcision has been suggested as a way to prevent penile cancer. This suggestion was based on studies that reported much lower penile cancer rates among circumcised men than among uncircumcised men. However, most researchers now believe those studies were flawed because they failed to consider other factors that are now known to affect penile cancer risk *.
(last revised 10 March 2006)

Elsewhere, the ACS stated:

Whether circumcision actually reduces risk is uncertain.

One line of reasoning is based on comparisons of risk across countries. Penile cancer is much less common in Israel, where nearly everyone is circumcised, than in the United States where only some men are. However, this comparison does not take into account other known risk factors such as the number of sexual partners, smoking, or personal hygiene. Furthermore, the risk of penile cancer in Denmark, where very few men are circumcised, is no higher than that in the United States *.

And:

Recent studies have found that circumcised men are less likely to be infected with HPV, even after this risk is adjusted for differences in sexual behavior. Other studies suggest that circumcision may reduce the risk of more invasive forms of penile cancer. However, it is important that the issue of circumcision not distract the public's attention from avoiding known penile cancer risk factors – poor hygiene, having unprotected sex with multiple partners (increasing the likelihood of human papillomavirus infection), and cigarette smoking. *
(last revised 10 March 2006)

The May 2006 edition of the Student BMJ, a student medical journal widely read in the UK, Stefan Bailis and Daniel Halperin published an article arguing that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks.

Phimosis

Phimosis is the inability to retract the prepuce over the glans penis after separation from the glans has occurred. The foreskin is joined to the glans, and is naturally unretractable when a baby is born. But there are differences of opinion about how long this should continue, and how the foreskin should be treated if it remains too tight for too long. Gairdnerpublished data regarding the age of first foreskin retraction in 1949 that is now thought by some to be incorrect. However, these data are still presented in medical textbooks and taught in medical schools.British Medical Journal [http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7264/792" target="_blank" >*:

Too many English boys, especially those under 5 years of age, are still being circumcised because of misdiagnosis of phimosis. What is phimosis? At birth, the foreskin is almost invariably non-retractable, but this state is transient and resolves in nearly all boys as they mature through puberty. Such normality, with an unscarred and pliant preputial orifice, is clearly distinguishable from pathological phimosis, a condition unambiguously characterised by secondary cicatrisation of the orifice, usually due to balanitis xerotica obliterans. This problem, the only absolute indication for circumcision, affects some 0.6% of boys, peaks in incidence at 11 years of age, and is rarely encountered before the age of 5. (...) Strictly, only some 0.6% of boys with pathological phimosis need to be circumcised, although more relaxed criteria would allow for a similar proportion affected by recurrent balanoposthitis.

A 1968 Danish study of 9,545 boys, which distinguished between phimosis and preputial adhesion, found that both conditions steadily declined with age. Phimosis was 8% among 6-7 year olds but only 1% among 16-17 year olds. Similarly, preputial adhesion was 63% among 6-7 year olds but only 3% among 16-17 year olds. The author, Jakob Øster, concluded:

Phimosis is seen to be uncommon in schoolboys, and the indications for operation even rarer if the normal development of the prepuce is patiently awaited. When this policy is pursued, in the majority of cases of phimosis, it is seen to be a physiological condition which gradually disappears as the tissues develop. *

It has been observed that Øster's study may not be representative of wider populations. The true incidence of phimosis is controversial. Osmond found that 14% of British soldiers suffered, and Schoeberlein noted that 9.2% of uncircumcised German men suffered from phimosis*

Phimosis is a complication of circumcision, that can occur when too little foreskin is removed.*

Images of phimosis.****

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and cervical cancer

The claim that circumcision reduces cervical cancer in female partners was first put forward by Wynder et al. in 1954, with smegma (a white secretion of the sebaceous glands of the foreskin ) as the hypothesized causative agent.

Several studies were performed during the mid-20th century to investigate whether smegma has carcinogenic properties. Pratt-Thomas et al. in 1956, found that horse smegma had a carcinogenic effect on laboratory mice. Heins et al, 1958 found that human smegma had a carcinogenic effect on laboratory mice. * However, a 1963 study by Reddy and Baruah was unable to reproduce the effect, leading the authors to conclude that the carcinogenic effect must be weak.

In 1962, Stern and Neely did not observe that circumcision in the male partner had a protective effect. In 1982, Punyaratabandhu et al. reported a protective effect in Thai women.*" target="_blank" >In 1993, Agarwal et al. observed a significantly protective effect among Indian women.[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8348498

The study, "Male Circumcision, Penile Human Papilloma Virus Infection, and Cervical Cancer in Female Partners," published in the The New England Journal of Medicine in April 2002, found that male circumcision reduces the risks of penile human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the man and of cervical cancer in his female partner.

The subsequent study Condom use and other factors affecting penile human papillomavirus detection in men attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic confirmed the findings with regard to the protective effect of male circumcision against infection by penile human papillomavirus.

Some now believe that the link between the higher incidence of cervical cancer in female partners of uncircumcised men is through the higher incidence of penile human papillomavirus (HPV) to which uncircumcised men are prone.*

In predominantly non-circumcising Great Britain, the incidence of cervical cancer has reached epidemic proportions. In a study published in The Lancet ,"The cervical cancer epidemic that screening has prevented in the UK," scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that cervical screening was responsible for preventing many deaths from cervical cancer. In their estimation, one in 65 of all British women born since 1950 would have died from cancer of the cervix without the screenings. In 2000, cervical cancer deaths in Great Britain were 3.9 per 100,000 patient-years, compared with 3.3 in the USA, 2.8 in Canada, and 2.4 in Australia. *

A new HPV vaccine is expected to substantially reduce the risk of cervical cancer when it becomes available.*

According to Dr. Xavier Castellsagué, "...it would not make sense to promote circumcision as a way to control cervical cancer in the United States, where Pap smears usually detect it at a treatable stage."

Circumcision and Urinary tract infection (UTI)

Infections of the urinary tract (kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra) can lead to kidney damage if undetected, but can generally be treated effectively with antibiotics. Recent studies find a three to seven times increased risk of UTIs in uncircumcised male infants within the first year of life. A 1998 Canadian population based cohort study by To et al. *, for example, reported a relative risk of 3.7. The overall incidence of UTIs in infants was low, 1.88 and 7.02 per 1000 respectively. According to the American Medical Association, "There is little doubt that the uncircumcised infant is at higher risk for urinary tract infection (UTI)."

Some of these studies have nevertheless been extensively criticized for their methodology. The American Academy of Pediatrics noted in its 1999 circumcision policy statement:

Few of the studies that have evaluated the association between UTI in male infants and circumcision status have looked at potential confounders (such as prematurity, breastfeeding, and method of urine collection) in a rigorous way. For example, because premature infants appear to be at increased risk for UTI, the inclusion of hospitalized premature infants in a study population may act as a confounder by suggesting an increased risk of UTI in uncircumcised infants. Premature infants usually are not circumcised because of their fragile health status. In another example, breastfeeding was shown to have a threefold protective effect on the incidence of UTI in a sample of uncircumcised infants. However, breastfeeding status has not been evaluated systematically in studies assessing UTI and circumcision status. *

More recently, however, randomized controlled trialsand other studies have confirmed the protective effect of circumcision*" target="_blank" >[http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/105/4/789.

UTIs are usually detected through urine tests. Depending on the method of urine collection, there is a varying risk of false positives through contamination. The bacteria detected may in fact come from the foreskin itself, not the urinary tract. In spite of this, an increased risk of UTI in uncircumcised males is generally considered plausible, a higher likelihood of bacterial colonization being the proposed mechanism.

However, studies of UTI and circumcision do not classify groups of circumcised males according to their mothers' handling of the foreskin, making it impossible to infer any link with specific hygienic practices. It is generally recommended not to retract the foreskin of an infant during hygiene *. Hodges and Fleiss claim that "it has been proven that retraction and washing of the infant foreskin can cause urinary tract infections by irritating the mucous membranes and destroying the naturally occurring beneficial flora which protects against pathogens." More recent research has shown that in fact fewer pathogens are present in circumcised males.

UTIs in boys are most common during the first years of life*.

Based upon their data, To et al. estimate that 195 circumcisions would be needed to prevent one hospital admission for UTI in the first year of life. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding to reduce the risk of UTI in children,* but does not recommend circumcision for this purpose.

Circumcision and HIV/AIDS

Preliminary findings from one study found that circumcision may reduce the transmission of AIDS by as much as 70%. This is a dramatic finding and caused the data and safety monitoring board overseeing the research to end it nine months early so that the control group could be offered circumcision. However, for reasons that have not been disclosed, The Lancet, a prestigious British medical journal, has declined to publish the findings. It is expected that the findings will be presented to an International AIDS Society Conference in Brazil in July 2005. * Two other randomized controlled trials are still underway (see below).

In 1989 the Cameron study was published and reported an 8.2 times higher risk of HIV infection among uncircumcised men. Since then some 38 studies have covered the issue of the protective effect accruing through male circumcision against female-to-male HIV transmission through vaginal sex. A recent study in Rakai, Uganda also observed a 30% reduction in male-to-female HIV transmission*, suggesting some protective effect for the female partner as well. There is no evidence yet, however, of a protective effect against transmission from the active partner to the passive partner in homosexual oral or anal intercourse.

The USAID document Male Circumcision:Current Epidemiological and Field Evidence summarized research as at September 2002. It states:

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 28 published studies by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, published in the journal AIDS in 2000, found that circumcised men are less than half as likely to be infected by HIV as uncircumcised men. A subanalysis of 10 African studies found a 71 percent reduction among higher-risk men. A September 2002 update considered the results of these 28 studies plus an additional 10 studies and, after controlling for various potentially confounding religious, cultural, behavioral, and other factors, had similarly robust findings. Recent laboratory studies in Chicago found HIV uptake in the inner foreskin tissue to be up to nine times more efficient than in a control sample of cervical tissue.*

However, the Cochrane Library for Evidence-based Medicine's review of the data (2004) reported:

We found insufficient evidence to support an interventional effect of male circumcision on HIV acquisition in heterosexual men. The results from existing observational studies show a strong epidemiological association between male circumcision and prevention of HIV, especially among high-risk groups. However, observational studies are inherently limited by confounding which is unlikely to be fully adjusted for. In the light of forthcoming results from RCTs, the value of IPD analysis of the included studies is doubtful. The results of these trials will need to be carefully considered before circumcision is implemented as a public health intervention for prevention of sexually transmitted HIV.*

Neither UNAIDS nor the Centers for Disease Control of the United States Public Health Service have accepted male circumcision as a proven method of epidemic control. The Royal Australian College of Physicians (2002) said:

There is increasing evidence, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, which suggests an increased risk of female to male transmission of HIV in uncircumcised men. However, how much circumcision could contribute to ameliorate the current epidemic of HIV is uncertain. Whatever the future direction of this debate it can not be seen as an argument in favour of universal neonatal circumcision in countries with a low prevalence of HIV. * (http://www.racp.edu.au/hpu/paed/circumcision/STDs.htm)

The USAID office of HIV/AIDS said: "male circumcision should not be actively promoted for HIV prevention unless and until the RCTs (Randomized controlled trials) confirm MC to be effective in reducing HIV infection".* Three randomized controlled trials (RCT's) are underway in Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda over a three to five year period, with the first results due in 2007. However, other studies have found an association between circumcision and the prevalence of HIV in communities.

Other researchers have contested the findings which indicate that circumcision reduces HIV transmission. For example, Van Howe, a leading anti-circumcision campaigner, produced a meta-analysis which presented circumcised men at a greater risk for HIV infection. He further speculated that circumcision may be responsible for the increased number of partners, and therefore, the increased risk. As reported by Geoffrey T. Falk, Van Howe has subsequently acknowledged that some of his statistics "were not as refined as they could have been" Van Howe's work was reviewed by [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10726934&dopt=Abstract O'Farrell and Egger who found methodological flaws in his work.

Weiss, Quigley and Hayes carried out a new meta-analysis on circumcision and HIV and found as follows:

Male circumcision is associated with a significantly reduced risk of HIV infection among men in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly those at high risk of HIV. These results suggest that consideration should be given to the acceptability and feasibility of providing safe services for male circumcision as an additional HIV prevention strategy in areas of Africa where men are not traditionally circumcised.

There have been other studies of note. Kelly et al. reported in "Age of male circumcision and risk of prevalent HIV infection in rural Uganda" that where circumcision was carried out before the age of 12 it results in a reduction to 0.39 of the odds of an uncircumcised man. The degree of protection changed according to the age at which circumcision was performed, however, with those circumcised at between 13 and 20 years at an odds ratio of 0.46, and those circumcised after the age of 20 at an odds ratio of 0.78. They concluded: "Prepubertal circumcision is associated with reduced HIV risk, whereas circumcision after age 20 years is not significantly protective against HIV-1 infection."

With regard to the effects of behaviour on infection risk Buvé in USAID funded multi-site study on behalf of UNAIDS found that "In conclusion, differences in the rate of HIV spread between the East African and West African cities studied cannot be explained away by differences in sexual behaviour alone. In fact, behavioural differences seem to be outweighed by differences in HIV transmission probability."

Bailey found in his study * that:

These results suggest that differences between circumcised and uncircumcised men in their sex practices and hygienic behaviors do not account for the higher risk of HIV infection found among uncircumcised men. Further consideration should be given to male circumcision as a prevention strategy in areas of high prevalence of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Studies of the feasibility and acceptability of male circumcision in traditionally noncircumcising societies are warranted.

Kiwanuka et al studied the relationship between religion and HIV in Rural Uganda and concluded: "Lower rates of HIV infection among Pentecostals appear to be associated with less alcohol consumption, sexual abstinence and fewer sexual partners, whereas the low HIV prevalence in Muslims appears to be associated with low reported alcohol consumption and male circumcision." Muslims, despite having the lowest rate of sexual abstinence and the highest rate of having two or more sexual partners, had the lowest level of HIV infection compared with the other religious groups in the study (Catholics, Protestants, and Pentecostals). The factor in common between the Muslims (14.5% seropositive) and the Pentecostals (14.6% seropositive) was the lower alcohol consumption rate in these two groups than amongst Protestants (19.2%) and Catholics (19.9%).

Studies have also been carried out as to the acceptability of male circumcison within traditionally non-circumcising communities. Kebaabetswe found that:

Male circumcision appears to be highly acceptable in Botswana. The option for safe circumcision should be made available to parents in Botswana for their male children. Circumcision might also be an acceptable option for adults and adolescents, if its efficacy as an HIV prevention strategy among sexually active people is supported by clinical trials.

Lagarde found that "More than 70% of the non-circumcised men (NCM) stated that they would want to be circumcised if MC were proved to protect against sexually transmitted diseases (STD)." Lagarde cautioned that "Our results strongly suggest that interventions including MC should carefully address the false sense of security that it may provide."

Bailey in his study Adult male circumcision in Kenya: safety and patient satisfaction looked at the possible adverse effects of introducing male circumcision on a public health scale and the post operative satisfaction levels of 380 circumcsions on 18-24 year old consenting men. As to satisfaction; "At 30 days post-surgery, 99.3% of men reported being very satisfied and 0.7% somewhat satisfied with circumcision. None were dissatisfied." And with regard to adverse effects; "All were mild or moderate and resolved within hours or several days of detection."

In a recently published study in this regard in The Lancet,Male circumcision and risk of HIV-1 and other sexually transmitted infections in India, Reynolds and Bollinger found that male circumcision was strongly protective against HIV-1 infection with circumcised men being almost seven times less at risk of HIV infection than uncircumcised men.* They further state that:

"The specificity of this relation suggests a biological rather than behavioural explanation for the protective effect of male circumcision against HIV-1."

Baeten et al in a study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases in 2005 found that uncircumcised men were at a greater than two-fold increased risk of acquiring HIV per sex act when compared with circumcised men. They conclude as follows:

"Moreover, our results strengthen the substantial body of evidence suggesting that variation in the prevalence of male circumcision may be a principal contributor to the spread of HIV-1 in Africa."

Despite the strong evidence of a significant protective effect of infant male circumcision, "male circumcision should not be actively promoted for HIV prevention unless and until the RCTs (Randomized controlled trials) confirm MC to be effective in reducing HIV infection".*

Recent Results

Recently, one of the more rigorous RCTs was cancelled July 6, 2005 when the study's preliminary results, disclosed by the Wall Street Journal, showed that circumcision reduced the risk of contracting HIV by 70 percent -- a level of protection far better than the 30 percent risk reduction set as a target for an AIDS vaccine.

According to the newspaper account, the study under way in Orange Farm township, South Africa, was stopped because the results were so favorable. It was deemed unethical to continue the trial after an early peek at data showed that the uncircumcised men were so much more likely to become infected.*

The findings of the study - which reported that circumcision reduced the risk of contracting AIDS by 63% - were presented at the 3rd International IAS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 24-27 July 2005. *

Two more randomized controlled trials (RCT's) are underway in Kenya and Uganda over a three to five year period, with the first results due in June 2006.

Although the trial shows promising protective effects of adult male circumcision in reducing HIV acquisition, UNAIDS emphasized that more research is needed to confirm the reproducibility of the findings of this trial and whether or not the results have more general application. UNAIDS believes that it is premature to recommend male circumcision as part of HIV prevention programmes.*

This cautious approach is supported by the South African Cochrane Centre for evidence-based medicine. Evaluating earlier observational studies, the Cochrane review cites possible "researcher bias" and says these RCTs will have to be "carefully considered before circumcision is implemented as a public health measure for prevention of sexually transmitted HIV."*

In assessing the impact of circumcision on the spread of sexually transmatted infections including HIV it must always be borne in mind that there are other risk factors. Thus, the United States has a high rate of STD infection and a high rate of circumcision compared with other advanced countries. *

A recent analysis of the potential impact of circumcision on HIV in Africa, based upon the results of the South African RCT, suggested that male circumcision could substantially reduce the burden of HIV in Africa, particularly in southern Africa where the existing prevalence of male circumcision is low and the existing prevalence of HIV is high. More specifically it predicted that if full coverage with MC was achieved in sub-Saharan Africa over the next ten years, MC could prevent approximately 2.0 (1.1 to 3.8) million new HIV infections over that ten year period and a further 3.7 million in the ten years after that *.

Epididymitis in children

Epididymitis is a condition where the epididymis becomes inflamed . It can be very painful, and can become a chronic condition, but medical treatment is well accepted and effective. [http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Epididymitis?OpenDocument. One 1998 study found the rate of epididymitis in boys with foreskins was significantly higher than in those without; that an intact foreskin is an important etiological factor in boys with epididymitis.

Penile problems in boys up to 8 years of age

A 1988 New Zealand study of penile problems by Fergusson et al, in a birth cohort of more than 500 children from birth to 8 years of age found that:

''By 8 years, circumcised children had a rate of 11.1 problems per 100 children, and uncircumcised children had a rate of 18.8 per 100. The majority of these problems were for penile inflammation including balanitis, meatitis, and inflammation of the prepuce. However, the relationship between risks of penile problems and circumcision status varied with the child's age. During infancy, circumcised children had a significantly higher risk of problems than uncircumcised children, but after infancy the rate of penile problems was significantly higher among the uncircumcised. These associations were not changed when the results were adjusted statistically for the effects of a series of potentially confounding social and perinatal factors. *
The authors of this study acknowledged certain problem with the data:

It is important to recognize that the data on medical attendance for penile problems was collected as part of a much larger longitudinal study of child health and development in which the primary concern was not with the issue of the longterm consequences of circumcision. This feature of the data collection process places a number of restrictions on the quality of the collected data. Specifically, data relating to immediate postcircumcision problems and penile problems that were treated at home without medical attention were not available. Also, diagnostic details of medical attendances for penile problems were limited. The net result of these imprecisions in the data collection process is that the incidence and prevalence of penile problems probably underestimated and the problems can only be described in terms of broad diagnostic categories. Nonetheless, we believe that the trends that emerge from the analysis are likely to reflect general differences in the medical histories of circumcised and uncircumcised children.*

Van Howe observed that Fergusson et al. used parental complaints rather than direct examination in their retrospective study, so the study may have understated the number of boys with penile problems.*

Paraphimosis

The American Academy of Family Physicians says:

"Paraphimosis is a urologic emergency, occurring in uncircumcised males, in which the foreskin becomes trapped behind the corona and forms a tight band of constricting tissue. Often iatrogenically induced, paraphimosis can be prevented by returning the prepuce to cover the glans following penile manipulation. Treatment often begins with reduction of edema, followed by a variety of options, including mechanical compression, pharmacologic therapy, puncture technique and dorsal slit. Prevention and early intervention are key elements in the management of paraphimosis. (Am Fam Physician 2000;62:2623-6,2628.)"*

The article goes on to say that the cause is most often iatrogenic (caused by doctors). It further stated:

"Rare causes of paraphimosis include self-inflicted injury to the penis such as, piercing a penile ring into the glans and paraphimosis secondary to penile erections."

Several different techniques are mentioned of dealing with this condition, and these are listed by the article in the American Family Physician, and also in the anti-circumcision web site CIRP. One procedure is minor surgery to make a small slit in the foreskin without removing any tissue.* Nevertheless, many physicians recommend circumcision for paraphimosis.

Images of paraphimosis. **

Balanitis

Balanitis is inflammation of the glans penis. Balanitis involving the foreskin or prepuce is termed balanoposthitis. One study found that uncircumcised men had more than five times the rate of balanitis The most common complication of balanitis is phimosis, or inability to retract the foreskin from the glans penis.[http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic51.htm.

EMedicine says: "Uncircumcised men with poor personal hygiene are most affected by balanitis. Lack of aeration and irritation because of smegma and discharge surrounding the glans penis causes inflammation and edema. Adherence of the foreskin to the inflamed and edematous glans penis causes phimosis."O'Farrell et al. noted inferior hygiene among uncircumcised men attending a sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic at Ealing Hospital, London.[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16105191&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum The researchers also reported an association between balanitis and inferior hygiene.

Balanitis has numerous causes, including irritation by environmental substances, physical trauma, and infection by a wide variety of pathogens, including bacteria, virus, yeast, or fungus — each of which require a particular treatment. Good medical practice includes careful diagnosis with the aid of a good patient history, swabs and cultures, and pathologic examination of a biopsy. Only then can the proper treatment be prescribed.Many studies of balanitis do not examine the subjects' genital washing habits. A 1993 study by Birley et al. did so and found that excessive genital washing with soap may be a strong contributing factor to balanitis.[http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/balanitis/birley/

Fakjian et al. studied 398 patients at a dermatology clinic in a cross-sectional study. 213 (53.5%) had been circumcised. "Balanitis was diagnosed in 2.3% of circumcised men and in 12.5% of uncircumcised men. In patients with diabetes mellitus, balanitis occurred with a prevalence of 34.8% in the uncircumcised population, compared with 0% in the circumcised population. Balanitis did occur with increased frequency in the diabetic population (16%), regardless of circumcision status, compared with the nondiabetic population (5.8%)." *

Balanitis xerotica obliterans is a skin condition causing white, atrophic patches on the glans or foreskin. It is much more common among uncircumcised males.

Zoon's Balanitis, illustrated here, also know as Balanitis Circumscripta Plasmacellularis or plasma cell balanitis (PCB) is an idiopathic, rare, benign penile dermatosis, usually of a middle-aged or older man Circumcision is the usual treatment of choice but fusidic acid cream 2% has been curative in some cases. *

Balanitis in childhood. Balanitis afflicts young boys generally only where a difficult to retract tight foreskin is present. Two studies found that uncircumcised boys were at approximately twice the risk of developing balanitis*" target="_blank" >Escala and Rickwood, in a 1989 examination of 100 cases of balanitis in childhood, concluded: "*," target="_blank" >They recommend circumcision as a last resort only in cases of recurrent balanitis.[http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/balanitis/escala1/

Images of balanitis *

Skin diseases

Researchers from the Imperial College School of Medicine, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London, England in a study Circumcision and genital dermatosesreported the results of their study of 357 patients referred for genital skin disease:

Most cases of inflammatory dermatoses were diagnosed in uncircumcised men, suggesting that circumcision protects against inflammatory dermatoses. The presence of the foreskin may promote inflammation by a koebnerization phenomenon, or the presence of infectious agents, as yet unidentified, may induce inflammation. The data suggest that circumcision prevents or protects against common infective penile dermatoses.

Some American military doctors have recommended prophylactic circumcision because of the difficult conditions during wartime. For example, a United States Army report regarding World War II noted that in case of penile lesions, the foreskin may "invite secondary infection". The sexually transmitted disease chancroid, now very uncommon, was also associated with phimosis, which could hardly occur in circumcised males, and "soldiers in combat were seldom able to practice personal hygiene". (Source: JF Patton, Medical Department, United States Army, Surgery in World War II, Urology, p. 64)

There are a small number of cases where skin diseases such as staphyloccal scalded skin syndrome or impetigo have been discovered in boys after circumcision.*." target="_blank" >However, research has not found a statistically significant difference in infection rates between circumcised and uncircumcised boys. [http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/enzenauer1/

Other Sexually transmitted infections

A recent systematic review * has suggested that there is strong evidence for a protective effect of circumcision against Syphilis or Chancroid infection, but only weak evidence for a protective effect against Herpes Simplex.

Costs and Benefits

Several researchers conducted cost-benefit analyses to see if infant circumcision justified the costs and the medical risks. Cadman et al. (1984) concluded that the expense of circumcision outweighed any money that might be saved by reducing the risk of penile cancer. Therefore, they argued, public funds should not pay for it Lawler et al. (1991) * reported that a net cost of $102 and it also cost 14 hours of healthy life. They found no medical basis on which to recommend for or against circumcision.

Chessare (1992) compared circumcision preventing urinary tract infections against its risks He concluded that non-circumcision produced the “highest expected utility”, provided that the probability of developing a UTI was less than 0.29. Christakis et al. (2000) report that "Circumcision remains a relatively safe procedure. However, for some parents, the risks we report may outweigh the potential benefits." [http://www.circs.org/library/christakis/index.html

The American Academy of Pediatrics (1999) said:

"Existing scientific evidence demonstrates potential medical benefits of newborn male circumcision; however, these data are not sufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision. In the case of circumcision, in which there are potential benefits and risks, yet the procedure is not essential to the child's current well-being, parents should determine what is in the best interest of the child." Policy Statement, 1999

Clarifying their statement in 2000, the authors explained:

The Task Force found the evidence of low incidence, high-morbidity problems not sufficiently compelling to recommend circumcision as a routine procedure for all newborn males. However, the Task Force did recommend making all parents aware of the potential benefits and risks of circumcision and leaving it to the family to decide whether circumcision is in the best interests of their child. ... Circumcision falls into that group of procedures that have potential medical benefits and some risks and should be evaluated by each family in the context of their personal beliefs and values as well as their ethnic, cultural, and religious practices. The Task Force respects the role of parents as decision-makers for their newborns and recommends that physicians discuss with parents the potential benefits as well as risks of circumcision so that parents can decide whether circumcision is in the child's best interests.

In June 2004 the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia said:

"Infant male circumcision was once considered a preventive health measure and was therefore adopted extensively in Western countries. Current understanding of the benefits, risks and potential harm of this procedure, however, no longer supports this practice for prophylactic health benefit. Routine infant male circumcision performed on a healthy infant is now considered a non-therapeutic and medically unnecessary intervention."*

A 2004 cost-utility study reported that the overall effect on male neonatal non-therapeutic circumcision on health is more likely to be negative rather than positive.* The author, Van Howe, is a fierce opponent of circumcision, and has presented at a Strategies for Intactivism conference in addition to NOCIRC symposia. He has also been criticised for bias, distortions and misrepresentation of the literature (The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal: Volume 17(8) August 1998 pp 762-763).

A 2006 cost analysis by Schoen et al. concluded that: "Multiple lifetime medical benefits of neonatal circumcision can be achieved at little or no cost. Because postneonatal circumcision is so expensive, its rate is the most important factor determining future cost savings from newborn circumcision."Dr Schoen, the principal author, has been described as an 'outspoken proponent' of circumcision. [http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050925/LIVING/509250362/1007/LIVING

Some public and private health insurance providers have deleted coverage of elective non-therapeutic circumcision. In such cases, the person electing the procedure must bear the costs.

See also

External links and References

Circumcision debate

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Medical analysis of circumcision".

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