This text is from here: Circumcision of Infants and Children: Short-Term Trauma and Long-Term Psychosexual Harm - Advances in Sexual Medicine
Nevertheless, several risks and harms of circumcision have been identified, notwithstanding the (relative) lack of research into the question [23] . For example, a recent study in the Canadian Urological Association Journal found (p. 260) that, “Most physicians performing neonatal circumcisions in our community have received informal and unstructured training, [leading to] unsatisfactory results [being] witnessed in our pediatric urology practice. Many practitioners are not aware of the contraindications to neonatal circumcision and most non- surgeons perform the procedure without being able to handle common post-surgical complications.” [24]
Grimes (p. 126) made a similar observation as far back as 1978: “Surgical mishaps continue to occur… A partial inventory of operative accidents and their sequalae includes denuding of the penis shaft; incomplete circumcision with residual deformity; lacerated scrotum; subglanular fistula; bivalved, grooved or amputated glans; concealed penis; and cautery burns.” [25]
Aside from accidental amputation of the glans during neonatal circumcision [26] [27] , included among the wide range of additional complications and harms that have been described in the literature, are bleeding and hemorrhage [28] , skin bridges and adhesions [29] [30] , meatal stenosis (in up to 20% of cases) [31] [32] , keloid formation [33] , painful neuromas [17] , toxicity to anesthetic [34] [35] , botched circumcisions [36] , urethral fistulas [37] , bacterial infections [38] , methicillin-resistant Staphylococcal aureus [39] , STIs [40] , HIV infection [41] , reduced penis size and/or buried penis [42] , post-circumcision penile cancer [43] , ischemia of the glans penis [44] , denudation of the penile shaft [45] , erectile dysfunction and impotence [46] , gastric rupture due to lack of anesthesia [47] , ruptured bladder [48] , tachycardia and heart failure [49] , acute venous stasis and swelling of the abdomen [50] , loss of the whole penis [51] (e.g., tragic David Reimer case),1,2 and even death [54] - [57] . Moreover, as Svoboda and Van Howe (p. 2) recently stated, “circumcision adversely affects the developing infant brain by causing trauma-grade increases in heart rate, blood pressure and stress hormone levels. Some infants do not cry because they go into shock. Mother-infant bonding and feeding is disrupted, as are infant sleep patterns. Circumcised infants become more irritable and less consolable than their intact peers.” [23]
DeMaria, J., Abdulla, A., Pemberton, J., Raees, A. and Braga, L.H. (2013) Are Physicians Performing Neonatal Cir- cumcisions Well Trained? Canadian Urological Association Journal, 7, 260-264. http://dx.doi.org/10.5489/cuaj.200
Grimes, D.A. (1978) Routine Circumcision of the Newborn Infant: A Reappraisal. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 130, 125-129.
Gluckman, G.R., Stoller, M.L., Jacobs, M.M. and Kogan, B.A. (1995) Pediatric Urology: Newborn Penile Glans Amputation during Circumcision and Successful Reattachment. Journal of Urology, 153, 778-779. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5347(01)67718-8
Neulander, E., Walfisch, S. and Kaneti, J. (1996) Amputation of Distal Penile Glans during Neonatal Ritual Circumcision: A Rare Complication. British Journal of Urology, 77, 924-925. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1464-410X.1996.06934.x
Hiss, J., Horowitz, A. and Kahana, T. (2000) Fatal Haemorrhage Following Male Ritual Circumcision. Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, 7, 32-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1054/jcfm.1999.0340
Ponsky, L.E., Ross, J.H., Knipper, N. and Kay, R. (2000) Penile Adhesions after Neonatal Circumcision. Journal of Urology, 164, 495-496. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5347(05)67410-1
Ritchie, M.L. and Bloom, D.A. (1991) Skin Bridge?A Complication of Paediatric Circumcision. British Journal of Urology, 68, 331.
Joudi, M., Fathi, M. and Hiradfar, M. (2011) Incidence of Asymptomatic Meatal Stenosis in Children Following Neonatal Circumcision. Journal of Pediatric Urology, 7, 526-528. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpurol.2010.08.005
Upadhyay, V., Hammodat, H.M. and Pease, P.W. (1998) Post Circumcision Meatal Stenosis: 12 Years’ Experience. New Zealand Medical Journal, 111, 57-58.
Köksal, T., Kadioglu, A. and Tefekli, A. (2000) Keloid as a Complication after Circumcision. British Journal of Urology, 85, 1-2.
Couper, R.T.L. (2000) Methaemoglobinae