The Immediate Complications of Circumcision
Chapter Four: The Immediate Complications of Circumcision
The immediate complications of circumcision may be classified as hemorrhage, infection, surgical mishap, other miscellaneous complications, and death.
Bleeding
The foreskin is highly vascularized,1 so hemorrhage is a particular problem and risk when the foreskin is cut. An artery that passes through the frenulum to provide blood to the glans penis is in danger of being severed.2 Williams & Kapila (1993) report bleeding to be the most common problem associated with circumcision.3
Special clamps are used to crush the skin to provide hemostasis. Old clamps may be worn, deformed, and fail to provide adequate crushing and hemostasis.4 When using the Plastibell® device, failure to tie the string tightly may result in bleeding.5
When a newborn is circumcised, there is great danger from bleeding because the prepuce is highly vascularized and because an infant’s body contains only 85ml/kg of blood.6 With so little total blood volume, a small loss of blood may cause exsanguination, hypovolemia, hypovolemic shock, and death.7-9 The coroner of Dade County, Florida reported the death of an infant from hemorrhage.7 Hiss et al. reported a hemorrhage followed by death.8 The coroner of British Columbia reported the death of a one-month-old infant from bleeding, exsanguination, hypovolemic shock, and multiple organ failure.9
Infection
Infection may range from the trivial to the life-threatening systemic infection.3
Life-threatening infections, includind septicemia and meningitis,10,11 tuberculosis,12,13 wound diphtheria,14 staphylococcus,15 and streptococcus,16 pyoderma17, impetigo,18,19 and scrotal abscess with salmonella infection,20 also have been reported. Scurlock & Pemberton (1977) reported a death from meningitis.11 The coroner of Ontario reported the death of a two-week-old infant from infection with Escherichia coli, intravascular coagulopathy, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.21
There are several reports of a significant increase in urinary tract infection (UTI) after ritual circumcision.22-24
Necrotizing fasciitis25-27 and Fournier’s gangrene (gangrene of the scrotum) have been reported.28 Such infections require extensive debridement (surgical excision) of infected tissue, if the patient is to survive.25-28
Circumcision infections may be spread by hospital workers.16,29,30,32,33 Hospitals are increasingly infected with antibiotic-resistant pathogens. St. Catherines’s Hospital on Long Island experienced an outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among circumcised boys in the hospital nursery.31 Any invasive procedure increases the risk of MRSA infection in the newborn nursery.32 Boys who are circumcised have a twelve-times greater risk of CA-MRSA infection.33
Surgical Accident
Circumcision is an imprecise surgical procedure. It is difficult to judge the amount of skin to excise. One problem is the removal of excess skin,3 which may denude the entire shaft of the penis and require an immediate corrective operation by a urologic specialist.34-36 Circumcision may also result in injuries to the urethra, including urethral fistula,37-39 which requires corrective surgery by a urologic specialist. A case of bivalving the glans penis caused by inserting the scissors into the urethra has been reported.40
Due to the difficulty in judging the correct amount of skin to excise, sometimes so little skin is removed that the penis does not appear to be circumcised. This may generate parental complaints and requests for a re-circumcision, although there is no medical indication for the second circumcision. Leith (1970) reported that, in his study of 200 circumcisions, 19 were recircumcisions.41 There is danger of painful erections if too much skin is removed.
More serious surgical mishaps include excision of part of the penis42-45 or glans penis,46-48 necrosis of the glans penis,48 necrosis of the penis caused by electrocautery devices,49-51 and total ablation or amputation of the penis.52
Death
Death may be the result of either bleeding7-9 or infection.11,12,15,21 There is no central registry of circumcision deaths, so the incidence of death from circumcision is controversial. Williams & Kapila (1993) characterize death as “rare.”3 Gairdner (1949), however, reported 16 deaths annually in Britain in the 1940s.53 Circumcision deaths may be attributed to bleeding or infection rather than the underlying circumcision. Few doctors are willing to acknowledge death from an elective, unnecessary, non-therapeutic, allegedly “minor,” surgical procedure. Gellis (1978) estimated there are more deaths from circumcision than from cancer of the penis (which would mean more than 200 deaths per year).54 (Prevention of penile cancer is not a valid excuse for circumcising. See Chapter 3.) Baker (1979) argued that there are at least 229 deaths per year in the United States from circumcision.55
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous immediate complications of circumcision include life-threatening pulmonary embolism,56 apnea and projectile vomiting,57,58 tachycardia and heart failure,59 pneumothorax,60 and gastric rupture.61
Chapter Five: Post-operative Complications of Circumcision
The immediate postoperative complications of circumcision may be classified as urinary retention, meatitis, meatal ulceration, meatal stenosis, skin tags, adhesions, skin bridges, concealed penis, phimosis, and miscellaneous complications. These complications are iatrogenic.
Urinary Retention
Circumcision sometimes results in urinary retention1 with possible obstructive uropathy.2 Bandages used in ritual circumcision may cause urinary retention.3,4 The plastic ring portion of the Plastibell® may also cause urinary retention,5 which may result in a ruptured bladder,6 renal failure,7 or interruption of circulation in the lower extremities.8,9 Urinary retention caused other complications that led to death in one reported case.10 Urinary retention is not seen in non-circumcised intact boys.
Adhesions and Skin-Bridges
The first step in the genital cutting of newborn boys is separation of the inner surface of the foreskin from the glans penis, to which it is fused at birth. The tearing, which Gracely-Kilgore (1984) compared with “skinning a squirrel,”11 leaves the surface of the glans penis and the inner lining of the foreskin raw. Newborn circumcision wounds are not sutured, so the residual foreskin heals wherever it falls. The residual foreskin may heal together with the glans penis, which results in adhesions that may form a skin bridge,11,12 resulting in tethering.1 Gracely-Kilgore reports that 15 percent of boys seen in her practice had adhesions and three percent required surgical correction.11 Adhesions may require surgical separation by a urologic specialist.13 Adhesions are not seen in non-circumcised intact boys.
Meatal Complications
Meatitis, meatal ulceration, and meatal stenosis are pathology only seen in circumcised boys who have been deprived of the protective foreskin. The connection between circumcision and these iatrogenic pathologies has been known at least since 1921.14 The exposure of the unprotected glans penis to the ammoniacal diaper (nappie) is generally believed to be the cause of inflammation and ulceration.14,15 Persad et al. (1995), however, have suggested that ischemia of the glans penis, caused by the severing of the frenular artery at circumcision, may be the etiologic factor.16 The ulceration may eventually result in the formation of scar tissue, restricting the opening of the urethra. Leitch (1970) reported 8 cases of meatal ulcer and 3 cases of meatal stenosis in a series of 200 circumcisions for an incidence of 5.5 percent.17 A meatotomy may be required to open the urethra.18-19 Meatal complications are not seen in non-circumcised intact boys.
Urinary Tract Infection
Several studies find that more than 50 percent of urinary tract infections (UTI) occur within 12-14 days after ritual circumcision.20-22.
Post-circumcision Phimosis
Oddly enough, circumcision, which is touted to prevent phimosis, actually causes phimosis.22,23 When the circumcision scar forms beyond the glans penis, a phimotic ring results, causing phimosis. Blalock et al. (2003) reported an incidence of 2.9 percent in circumcised boys.23 Leich reported that 11 out of 200 required recircumcision to correct post-circumcision phimosis.17.
Inconspicuous Buried, Trapped, or Concealed Penis
This iatrogenic condition occurs secondary to circumcision.24-30 A second surgery usually is necessary to effect a repair.28-30.
Keloid Formation
Keloids are an overgrowth of scar tissue. Keloids are reported after circumcision.31-33 They require surgical removal and repair.31-33.
Circulation Problems, Ischemia, Necrosis, and Gangrene
Circumcision severs arteries and veins including the frenular artery that supplies the glans penis,16 so it is not surprising that circulation problems are reported after circumcision. Gangrene of the penis,34-36 and of the glans penis,37,38 have been reported.
Miscellaneous Complications
Miscellaneous post-operative complications include chordee,39 inclusion cysts,40,41 lymphedema,40,41 neuromas,42 sub-cutaneous mass,43 and cancer.44
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