Pain
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The pain of circumcision is severe and traumatizing.
Contents
Infant circumcision
Intraoperative pain
Circumcision is most-commonly performed on newborn infants as a non-therapeutic cultural body re-configuration. At that tender age, the foreskin normally is fused with the underlying glans penis by a synechial membrane that is common to both parts.[1]
There are four painful steps in every infant circumcision:
1. Before circumcision surgery can commence, the surgeon must first forcibly separate these two highly innervated body parts in an exquisitely painful procedure by the passage of a blunt probe between the two parts to rip and tear the synechia apart.[2]
2. Next, in another painful step, a dorsal slit must be cut in the foreskin, so that a special clamp can be installed.
3. The foreskin is erogenous tissue,[3] so it is highly innervated.[4] Nervous tissue requires a large blood supply, so the foreskin is richly vascular with many blood vessels,[5] therefore the foreskin must be crushed with one of several special clamps in yet another painful step before the circumcision can be carried out.[6]
4. Finally, in another, painful step, the foreskin must be cut away.
Lander et al. (1997) conducted a comparison of no anesthesia (current practice), ring block, dorsal penile nerve block, and a topical eutectic mixture of local anesthetics (EMLA).
With no anesthesia, the infants cried continuously. Newborns in the untreated placebo group exhibited homogeneous responses that consisted of sustained elevation of heart rate and high pitched cry throughout the circumcision and following. Two newborns in the placebo group became ill following circumcision (choking and apnea).
EMLA was the least effective pain control. Dorsal penile nerve block (DPNB) was more effective, and ring block was the most effective. The authors reported "[w]ithout exception, newborns in this study who did not receive an analgesic suffered great distress during and following the circumcision, and they were exposed to unnecessary risk (from choking or apnea)." The authors were so alarmed that they terminated the no anesthesia arm of the study early.
None of the analgesic measures tested provided total pain relief. Any infant boy who undergoes neonatal circumcision will experience some pain and trauma. Boys who escape circumcision would have no pain or trauma. The author concluded that circumcision should be performed with anesthetic.
Post-surgical pain
Circumcision is an invasive cutting operation. Like other invasive operations, post-surgical pain persists after the surgery for days or weeks. Infant boys will not receive effective analgesia because of their young makes such drugs dangerous.
Howard, Howard, & Weitzman (1994) studied male infants after their neonatal circumcision. They recorded the comfort scores of the infants at numerous periods after circumcision. They also observed and recorded feeding behavior.
It was found that feeding behavior deteriorated significantly after circumcision. Some breastfeed infants were unable to breastfeed and required formula feeding after circumcision. Acetaminophen was found to be almost totally ineffective against the post-circumcision pain. It did have some effect six hours after the circumcision. The authors concluded "that circumcision of the newborn causes severe and persistent pain."[7]
Traumatic effect of infant circumcision
Video
Infant circumcision procedure
External links
Hill, George (11 September 2006). Pain of circumcision and pain control
, Circumcision Reference Library. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
Quote:Circumcision is the most stressful surgical procedure commonly performed on newborns.
References
- ↑
Deibart, G.A.. The separation of the prepuce in the human penis. Anat Rec. 1933; 57: 387-99. DOI. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ↑ Oliver, JE. Circumcision and cruelty to children. Br Med J. 1979; 2(6195): 933. PMID. PMC. DOI. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
Quote:Without anaesthetic the operation in babies causes pain, intense and prolonged crying, air swallowing, vomiting sometimes followed by apnoea, and sometimes permanent local complications.
- ↑ Falliers. Circumcision. JAMA. 21 December 1970; 214(12): 2194. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ↑ Winkelmann, RK. The cutaneous innervation of the human newborn prepuce. J Invest Dermatol. January 1956; 26(1): 53-67. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ↑ Fleiss, P., Hodges, F., Van Howe, R.S.. Immunological functions of the human prepuce. Sex Trans Infect. October 1998; 74(5): 364-67. PMID. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ↑ Circumcision procedure (Gomco Clamp method). Patient Care. 15 March 1978; 12: 82-85. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ↑ Howard, Cynthia R., Howard, Fred M., Weitzman, Michael L.. Acetaminophen analgesia in neonatal circumcision: the effect on pain. Pediatrics. April 1994; 93(4): 641-6. PMID. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
