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Infant circumcision traditionally had been carried out without any kind of anesthesia or analgesia because of the false belief that infants could not feel [[pain]]. Researchers started to investigate the [[Pain| pain of circumcision]] in the 1970s.
The American Cancer Society estimated that there are about 460 deaths per year in the United States from penile cancer.<ref>{{REFweb
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Anand & Hickey (1987) published a paper in the ''New England Journal of Medicine'' that conclusively proved that newborn infants are capable of feeling intense [[pain]]. After publication of this landmark paper, no doubt about pain sensation in infants remained. The article stated:
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<i>Numerous lines of evidence suggest that even in the human fetus, pain pathways as well as cortical and subcortical centers necessary for pain perception are well developed late in gestation, and the neurochemical systems now known to be associated with pain transmission and modulation are intact and functional. Physiologic responses to painful stimuli have been well documented in neonates of various gestational ages and are reflected in hormonal, metabolic, and cardiorespiratory changes similar to but greater than those observed in adult subjects. Other responses in newborn infants are suggestive of integrated emotional and behavioral responses to pain and are retained in memory long enough to modify subsequent behavior patterns.</i><ref name="anand1987">{{REFjournal