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This article documents severe complications of [[circumcision ]] reported in news media. While many of our pages are concerned with non-therapeutic medical circumcision, this page will include non-therapeutic medical, religious and cultural circumcisions. The article does in no way claim to offering a complete oversight of cases.

"[S]ome of the serious complications that can occur during the procedure include death from excess bleeding and amputation of the glans penis. Postoperative complications include the formation of skin bridges between the shaft and the glans, infection, urinary retention (this has caused deaths), meatal ulcer, impetigo, fistulas, loss of penile sensitivity, sexual dysfunction and oedema of the glans." They also acknowledge that the frequency of complications is "underestimated because events occuring occurring after the discharge are not captured [in the discharge sheet]" and sometimes are treated at a different hospital.<ref>{{REFweb

Two New York City Jewish newborns contracted herpes in three from oral suctioning (Metzitzah b'Peh) conducted during ritual circumcision (Bris Milah), according to New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In January 2013, New York’s health department began mandating parents of infants about to undergo ritual Jewish circumcision to sign a consent form permitting mohels [[mohel]]s to use the oral method, known as metzitzah b’peh. In the recent case of herpes contraction, the parents did not sign that form, ''The Forward '' reported. The infant survived, but it is not yet clear whether he sustained any long-term damage.<ref>{{REFweb

Nov 23, 2012. ''The Times of India '' reported that a 7 year old child was fighting for his life after complications from circumcision. The boy, Imran, was admitted to Sania hospital in Alwar town on November 10 for circumcision. According to sources, after the operation, some equipment was used to prevent bleeding. However, electric current accidentally passed into his private parts and the boy suffered serious injury. On November 13, the boy was referred to a private hospital in Jaipur. After investigating the case, the doctors in Jaipur advised the boy's relatives to remove his genitals as it was necessary to save his life. The operation was conducted and his genitals were removed. Three days after the operation, the boy was again admitted to Sania hospital in Alwar.

A newborn can become infected when the [[mohel|adult ]] performing the circumcision places his mouth on the circumcision wound to siphon blood away from the cut. The ritual is only embraced by a handful of sects within the Orthodox Jewish community, according to New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley.<ref>{{REFweb

A husband and wife are suing their Miami doctor over a botched circumcision that left their infant son with a "unsightly... and permanently scarred" penis. The doctor "failed to align the foreskin on the bell of the GOMCO clamp before engaging the nut on the base plate, closing the clamp, and excising the foreskin, resulting in leaving too much [[foreskin ]] on the ventral side of the penis." C.L.'s lawyers say that the boy, now three and a half years old, will likely need counseling to overcome the lasting trauma from the operation gone wrong.<ref>{{REFweb

|author-link=[[Dan Bollinger]]

A baby was taken for circumcision to a Los Angeles clinic in 2003. The doctor had no medical malpractice insurance. The [[circumcision ]] was performed with a Mogen clamp, resulting in the amputation of most of the glans. By 2011 the boy has had two reconstructive surgeries, and doctors predict he will need at least two more while in his teens and 20s to repair the physical damage. Then will come plastic surgery.<ref>{{REFweb

[http://www.circumstitions.com/Restric/Botched1sb.html Skin bridges ] are a common post-operative complication from circumcisions. In a [http://botched-circumcision-recovery.blogspot.com/2011/11/off-to-delayed-start-preface.html blog], the author shares how during puberty he became aware of a skin bridge causing problems and making erections painful, and how he dealt with this problem.