This is an operation that involves removing the foreskin which is the skin that surrounds the gland at the level of the penis.
What are the circumstances of circumcision?
We can distinguish between two cases: the case of a religious practice and the case of a medical or surgical treatment.
What is its religious reason?
Circumcision is practiced in a religious way mainly by Jews and Muslims and long before them, by Egyptians in the days of the Pharaohs and by Christians (the Copts). The objective would be to confirm the relationship with God.
What are the medical consequences of circumcision?
The main result is phimosis. The latter consists of a too tight foreskin that requires a medical and surgical emergency. The main circumstance of discovery is urinary tract infection, which has become high, can progress to sepsis and cause death.
What are the other purposes of this intervention?
Recent studies have shown that circumcision can prevent transmission of the AIDS virus. Some communities practice circumcision for hygienic reasons.
How does it take place?
This is a surgical procedure. So, a consultation with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist is obligatory. The surgeon can operate under local or general anesthesia. The child can return the same day just after waking up from anesthesia.
What are the postoperative consequences?
The child may feel pain, the doctor has to prescribe a pain medication.
Are there risks?
Like any treatment, there is a risk of complications. The risks related to circumcision are hemorrhagic, infectious, or anesthetic.
How to prevent the complications?
A careful examination and preoperative assessment can prevent these complications. In addition, a good hygiene before, during, and after the operation is crucial.
The doctor’s advice in Turkey and Istanbul
The risk of complications is lower in newborns than in older children. To minimize the risk, the intervention must be performed by an experienced practitioner using a sterile technique. Monitoring should be performed in the days following the intervention to ensure that there is no bleeding or fever.
What is the difference with posthectomy?
The goal is the same as it consists of removing the foreskin but the purpose is different: posthectomy is the procedure that surgeons perform for medical reasons like the difficulties of retracting, as with phimosis, chronic inflammation with pain, and chronic skin lesions.
Circumcision is performed conventionally without anesthesia by a doctor in general in early childhood. It is not a surgical intervention, the stitches are not done, the scarring is therefore longer and the quality of the surgical intervention is of course not the same as with a surgeon, resulting in the obligation of medical care in certain countries.
Last update : 30/03/2020
