Baby Circumcision: All you need to know about circumcision.

Hi there!!

How are you all doing?? I hope you all are doing great?

Yaay!!! I did my first circumcision for a baby in the surgery theatre and it felt really good.

Before today, I had a very gore idea about circumcision. I thought it was a procedure that involved putting a hot knife on the penis and cutting the foreskin. how stupid of me.

Well, I know better cos I did a circumcision today.

So for those of you who are like me, here is an opportunity for you to learn about circumcision, its benefits, risk and how it is done.

Pixabay

What is circumcision?

Circumcision is the removal of the foreskin of the penis to expose the tip or the glans penis.

The glans penis is what most of you call the cap.

The first time I saw an uncircumcised phallus was in my 3rd year in secondary school.

It felt a bit weird cos the penis was not like any other person's penis.

Anyways I discovered the reason why theirs was different was that they were not circumcised.

Circumcision is not a big deal and it's usually regarded as a minor procedure as the child goes back home the same day also the procedure does not last more than 39 minutes at most.

What are the reasons for circumcision?

Like I earlier said, everyone had circumcised penises except one guy.

The thing is people circumcise for different reasons.

Circumcision is a common procedure in Americans, Asians, and Africans. It's not so common among Europeans.

So this means there might be different reasons for circumcision

The reasons could be religious, social, medical, personal or aesthetics.

Medical reasons for circumcision include

• ** balanitis** which is the swelling of the foreskin mainly due to inflammation.
• balanoposthitis - inflammation of the tip of the penis and the foreskin.
• phimosis which is the inability to retract the foreskin
• paraphimosis inability to return a retracted foreskin.

Some personal reasons include wanting your child to look like you. I mean I am circumcised, my child should be too.

Religions like Islam and Judaism advocate that male babies should be circumcised.

By Unknown author - Library of Congress[1], Public Domain, Wikipedia_{The picture above shows the circumcision ceremony in Asia. Here the circumcision is done by a religious leader.}

In the Islamic religion, the ritual circumcision is called khitan. In some Islamic parts of the world, khitan is done as a part of a religious ceremony. In other parts, it is done in a hospital setting.

In Judaism, the ritual is called a brit milah. It is most times done as a part of a religious ceremony at home or in a synagogue.

What are the benefits of circumcision?

As with a lot of things in life, most things that have advantages have disadvantages too.

However, studies have shown that the benefit of circumcision outweighs the risk.

The benefits influx

• Reduced risk of urinary tract infections; the foreskin is a significant fold of tissue covering the glans and so is capable of harbouring germs beneath it. This hereby predisposes the babies to urinary tract infections.
• Reduced risk of HIV and Sexually Transmitted infections; Studies have observed that males with circumscribed phalluses have fewer chances of getting STI's when compared to their u circumscribed folk based on the reason above too.
• Reduction in the risk of having cancers; Some studies have also observed that the incidence of penile cancer which is rare cancer also happens to be way lesser in those whose phalluses are circumcised.
• Reduction in the transmission of cervical cancer to partners:

What are the risks associated with Circumcision?
First and foremost, if I was not a doctor, I will be so scared for my child as regards the process.

Just for you to know the risk, I shall talk about it.

Circumcision is a surgical procedure just like ant surgical procedure and so can have surgical complications which include

• Trauma to surrounding structures like the urethra, or even the glans penis. A condition known as hypospadias can occur following circumcision when there is trauma to the urethra. This then presents with an abnormal passage of urine from the under part of the penis.

• infections: Infections rarely occur from circumcision if done properly. This goes to say that, sterility and sepsis should be observed when doing the procedure. However, if there is an infection, proper antibiotics should be used to combat such infections. It should be noted that once there is a persistent fever after a child is been circumcised alongside excessive redness of the penis and may pus-like discharge, an infection is present. Antibiotics like syrup Ammoxil 2.5mls three times a day for a week can be used.

• pain: like every other surgery, pain is a major part of surgeries. But not to worry, the mile area is made numb so the child does not feel pain. Also, after the child is done with the procedure, the child is given oral pain relief for the pain. Pain medications like paracetamol syrup can be given to help reduce the pain.

How A Circumcision is being performed

By MrArifnajafov - File:Sünnət circumcision əməliyyatı.gif, CC BY-SA 3.0, wikimedia

Circumcision in my part of the world is usually done by health practitioners. Ideally, it should be done by a paediatric surgeon.
However, Nurses and paediatricians also do a great job in circumcision male babies.

Before the procedure, written informed consent is obtained.

Thereafter, the child is taken to the theatre.

He is placed back flat and then held by an assistant.

After this, sterile instruments and gloves are provided for the surgeon.

A penile block is being given so the baby doesn't feel any pain. Most times the anaesthetic agent is lidocaine.

Ideally, it is expected to take 5 minutes before the agent begins to work.

After giving the anaesthetic agent, the child is being cleaned with antiseptic and iodine(all these help to prevent infection)

Next, the child's foreskin is cut and a plastibell is put in place along with a suture that is tied and left in place.

That's the whole process of circumcision.

How do you care for the wound?

It is perfectly okay for the wound to be red on the first and second day.

Usually, using petroleum jelly on the site each time you change his diaper is okay to prevent it from sticking to the diapers.

After about 4-10 days, the plastic and sutures fall off.

When should you hold on as regards circumcision?

Once there is a lack of skilled personnel, there is no need to rush circumcision.
Circumcision is not an emergency and so it can be done up to the first month of life.

Also, once there is a defect in the opening from here urine passes. This implies that if the urine is not coming from the tip of the penis, circumcision should not be performed.

Well, That's all for now. I hope you had a good read.

Please share your comments with me if you have any concerns, I will be quick to answer.

References

• Principles of Surgery by Badoe
• Healthline

Once again, thank you for reading.