View source for Circumcision: Effect upon erectile function

Male circumcision is a surgical [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] from the penis that severs nerves and blood vessels that provide blood to the [[penis]].

The effect of male [[circumcision]] upon [[erection]] (impotence) has not been adequately explored in public discourse. 

==Reports of impotence after circumcision==

The first case report is from 1929. Edward Glover, a psychoanalyst from London, was conducting an analysis of a patient who suffered from erectile dysfunction. Eventually it developed that the patient was [[circumcised]] between the age of three and one-half years and your years of age. The boy cried out after the surgery, "Why did you let him cut it off?"<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Glover
 |init=E
 |url=https://www.cirp.org/library/psych/glover/
 |title=The "Screening" Function of Traumatic Memories
 |journal=International Journal of Psychoanalysis
 |date=1929
 |volume=10
 |pages=90-3
 |accessdate=2025-09-25
}}</ref>

Foley (1966), a West Virginia physician, stated: 
<blockquote>
"One possible result of circumcision is impotence: Impotence seems to be frequent in circumcised men, but rare among the uncircumcised."<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Foley
 |init=JM
 |author-link=
 |url=https://www.cirp.org/news/1966/1966-07-01_Foley.php
 |title=The Unkindest Cut of All
 |journal=Fact
 |date=1966-07
 |volume=3
 |issue=4
 |pages=2-9
 |accessdate=2025-09-25
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Stinson (1973) presented five case reports of loss of erectile function in United States Air Force personnel after [[adult circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Stinson
 |first=
 |init=JM
 |author-link=
 |etal=no
 |title=Impotence and adult circumcision
 |language=
 |journal=J Natl Med Assoc
 |date=1973-03
 |volume=65
 |issue=2
 |page=161
 |url=https://www.cirp.org/library/complications/stinson/
 |archived=
 |quote=While this report cannot claim to show a causal relationship between circumcision and impotence, adult circumcision is the one common thread ill the five patients presented. 
 |pubmedID=4691678
 |pubmedCID=2608864 
 |accessdate=2025-09-25
}}</ref>

Fink et al. (2002) surveyed 132 men [[circumcised]] as adults. The authors stated, "Adult circumcision appears to result in worsened erectile function…"<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Fink
 |first=
 |init=KS
 |author-link=
 |last2=Carson
 |first2=
 |init2=CC
 |author2-link=
 |last3=DeVellis
 |first3=
 |init3=RF
 |author3-link=
 |etal=no
 |title=Adult circumcision outcomes study: effect on erectile function, penile sensitivity, sexual activity and satisfaction
 |trans-title=
 |journal=J Urol
 |location=
 |date=2002-05
 |volume=167
 |issue=5
 |pages=2113-6
 |url=https://phimosisjourney.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cicumcision-study.pdf
 |archived=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=11956453
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |doi=
 |format=PDF
 |accessdate=2025-09-25
}}</ref>

Shen et al. (2004) reported a study in China of 95 men who had undergone [[adult circumcision]]. Of the 95 men, 28 had "mild or moderate erectile dysfunction after circumcision" (29.4%), and 33 "had weakened erectile confidence" (34.7%). Unfortunately, the study was reported in Chinese, so no further information is available.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Shen
 |first=
 |init=Z
 |author-link=
 |last2=Chen
 |first2=
 |init2=S
 |author2-link=
 |last3=Zhu
 |first3=
 |init3=C
 |author3-link=
 |last4=Wan
 |first4=
 |init4=Q
 |author4-link=
 |last5=Zhaodian
 |first5=
 |init5=Z
 |author5-link=
 |etal=no
 |title=[Erectile function evaluation after adult circumcision]
 |trans-title=
 |language=Chinese
 |journal=Zhonghua Nan Ke Xue
 |date=2004-01
 ||volume=10
 |issue=1
 |pages=18-9
 |url=https://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/shen1/
 |quote= Adult circumcision has certain effect on erectile function, to which more importance should be attached.
 |pubmedID=14979200
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |doi=
 |accessdate=2025-09-25
}}</ref>
==Summary==
One case report that reports a single case of erectile dysfunction and impotence after [[child circumcision]] has been identified and four papers that report erectile dysfunction and impotence after [[adult circumcision]], including 232 cases of erectile dysfunction and impotence in adult males, have been identified.

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Erection]]
* [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Sexual injury of circumcision]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
 |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1o4kvc4/comment/nj3bkac/
 |title=Learning to love my foreskin
 |publisher=REDDIT
 |date=2025-10-12
 |accessdate=2025-10-13
}}
{{REF}}



[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Circumcision complication]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Male genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Parental information]]
[[Category:Physiology]]