CIRCUMCISION

CIRCUMCISION: Removal of Foreskin of penis

Who needs it:

Some parents ask for their children to be circumcised for religious reasons
Child who has tight foreskin, which cannot be retracted for cleaning.
If the child finds it painful to pass water
If a child has recurrent attacks of infection
If the child has ballooning of the foreskin and has dribbling at the end of the stream
If a child’s urine stream is spraying in all direction
If the foreskin is showing redness and signs of scarring (called balano-posthitis)
Most children settle by the age of 4 years, if not it is worth letting a doctor see it.

Operation:

Most commonly it is done under general anaesthesia (by putting the child to sleep), because the pain caused by local anaesthesia or no anaesthesia can have serious or even fatal consequences.

Majority of the hospitals (NHS or Private) do not allow this operation done before the child is three years old, as it is normally not indicated before that age and the risk of anaesthesia in a smaller child is too high for this simple operation.
It is best to do the operation before the child goes to school to avoid teasing by other children.

After the operation

Children normally go home 2-3 hours after the operation.
The sutures used normally dissolve in 2 weeks or so.
The child does not have any pain passing water.
The wound is usually healed within a fortnight or so.
The child can have a shower or bath normally from the next day
Some surgeons use dressings and would guide further
There is extremely minimal risk of bleeding or infection.