Circumcision risks

Work in progress: The following information does not claim to be complete. More content will be added gradually.

This article wants to offer a comprehensive overview of risks which can occur by undergoing a circumcision. This page is a landing page for those who want to find a quick overview about circumcision risks. Chances are that information given here is shown in more detail in other IntactiWiki articles.

General risks

• Loss of the foreskin (100% complication rate)
• Operation scar (100% complication rate)
• Loss of the frenulum
• Loss of protection of the glans
• Reduction of the penis
• Keratinization of the glans
• Loss of sensation
• Loss of money for a medically not indicated surgery
• Restoration of the foreskin not 100% possible and very time-consuming (adults)

Operative risks

• Death
• Amputation of the penis
• Amputation of the glans
• Amputation of excess skin or denudation
• Shock or coma due to the extreme pain (newborn circumcision)

• Because circumcision is type of surgery always, it also encompasses all the basic risks of surgery.

• Infection
• Bleeding, excess bleeding
• Surgical mishap

Post-operative risks (A-Z)

• Abnormal healing
• Adhesions between the shaft and the glans
• Brain damage (permanent) after herpes infection (newborn circumcision with Metzitzah b'peh)
• Chordee
• Deformation of the penis
• Early ablactation (weaning) (newborn circumcision)
• Epispadias
• Excessive foreskin removed (leads to deformation)
• Fistulas
• Herpes infection (newborn circumcision with Metzitzah b'peh)
• Hypospadias
• Impetigo
• Impotence
• Inclusion cysts
• Infection
• Insufficient foreskin removed (re-surgery often done)
• Loss of penile sensitivity
• Lubricants required for masturbation and intercourse
• Lung tear due to extreme cries of pain (newborn circumcision)
• Lymphoedema
• Meatal stenosis (20% complication rate)
• Meatal ulcer
• Meatitis
• Necrosis of the penis
• Oedema of the glans
• Phimosis
• Pain in erected state of the penis
• Risk of required re-surgery
• Sexual dysfunction
• Skin bridges between the shaft and the glans
• Tummy wall tear due to extreme cries of pain (newborn circumcision)
• Urethrocutaneous fistula
• Urinary retention (this has caused deaths)
• ...

Psychological risks

Immediate risks

• PTSD due to newborn trauma
• Brain damage due to the extreme pain (newborn circumcision without effective anesthesia)
• Loss of bonding and trust to parents
• Nipple confusion (newborn circumcision)
• Frustration due to sexual dysfunction
• Lowered pain sensitivity threshold (newborn circumcision)

Delayed risks

• Feelings of being cheated, robbed, abandoned and unprotected by the own parents
• Cognitive dissonance
• Circumcision coma
• Impotence due to psychological bad feelings of being inferior
• Depression
• Suicide

AAP confirms complications

The AAP offers a coding newsletter for those who encode medical diagnoses in ICD codes. They offer a "Subspecialty Corner: Coding for Complications of Neonatal Circumcision" which definitely confirms that even the AAP knows of a bunch of complications.

See also

• Circumcision botches
• Documented severe complications of circumcision
• Fatalities
• Psychological issues of male circumcision
• Risks and complications
• Sexual effects of circumcision

External links

• Complications of Circumcision, Stanford University. Retrieved 20 February 2020.

Subspecialty Corner: Coding for Complications of Neonatal Circumcision. AAP Pediatric Coding Newsletter. 2017; (9) Retrieved 24 February 2020.