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→Pain: Wikify "pain"; Add box note.
== Complications ==
=== Pain ===
In the past, advocates of circumcision claimed that a newborn child's nerve system was not yet fully developed, and that as a result, the child felt no [[pain ]] during the circumcision procedure. Anand & Hickey (1987) have shown that newborn children do in fact feel [[pain]], and more acutely than adults.<ref name="anand-hickey1987">{{REFjournal
|last=Anand
|first=
}}</ref> This has led American health associations to recommend doctors take measures to reduce the pain of circumcision in infants.
The [[Position Statements on Infant Circumcisionhttp://www.cirp.org/library/statements/aap1999/|AAP Circumcision Policy Statement]] (1999) states quite clearly that ''"There is considerable evidence that newborns who are circumcised without analgesia experience pain and physiologic stress"''. Furthermore, the pain is quite severe, and requires injections for proper pain management. Sucrose and Acetaminophen ''"cannot be recommended as the sole method of analgesia"''. Topical cream is no longer thought sufficient as ''"the analgesic effect is limited during the phases associated with extensive tissue trauma such as...tightening of the clamp"''.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=
|first=
|url=http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/clinical/clinicalrecs/children/circumcision.html
|accessdate=2011-05-02
}}</ref> This is not a debatable fact, and yet, it is not widely accepted, even by some doctors. It might be hard for some doctors to accept, as they may have been taught that the infant does not feel [[pain]], and may have performed countless circumcisions with this idea. Usage of anesthesia for infant circumcision is still by no means the rule.
Penile injections of anesthetic are now recommended by all of the major medical institutions. In their [http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/no-index/about-ama/13585.shtml Report 10 of the Council on Scientific Affairs], the AMA states ''"When the decision is made to proceed with circumcision, local anesthesia should be provided for the procedure. Ring block or dorsal penile blocks [injections] are most effective. EMLA cream has limited utility"''. Alarmingly, ''"Despite the clear evidence that newborn males generate brisk pain responses during circumcision, a recent survey of residency training programs found that 26% of programs that taught circumcision provided no instruction on the use of local anesthesia". The AMA reports that "Of physicians performing circumcision, 45% use anesthesia, 71% of pediatricians, 56% of family practitioners, and 25% of obstetricians"''.<ref>{{REFweb
}}</ref> Post-operative pain and the pain the child must endure during recovery is hardly, if ever, addressed by professionals.
It has been shown that an infant's response to [[pain ]] can be altered for years as a consequence of circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Taddio
|first=Anna
|accessdate=
}}</ref>
{{Box|Boxtext=<big><b>However, none of the above three procedures totally eliminate pain. A baby boy will still experience some pain despite any of those analgesic procedures. Prevention of pain requires protecting a boy from elective neonatal non-therapeutic circumcision. Only boys who are protected from the medically unnecessary circumcision surgery experience no pain or trauma.</b></big>}}
=== Sexual effects ===