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Features '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' features the late Dr. [[Paul Fleiss]]:

A new study found [[circumcision]] so traumatic that doctors ended the study early rather than subject any more babies to the operation without anesthesia.<ref name="lander1997">{{LanderJ etal 1997}}</ref>

The researchers discovered that for those [[circumcised ]] without anesthesia there was not only severe [[pain]], but also an increased risk of choking and difficulty breathing.

The necessity of [[circumcision ]] is the subject of increasing debate , but the traditional reasons for the operations have always been prevention.

[https://www.northside.com/providers/find-a-provider/provider-profile/arthur-gumer-md/1550 Dr. Arthur Gumer of Northside Hospital in Atlanta ] says circumcision has been thought to provide "protection against infectious diseases later in life which would include either sexually transmitted diseases or urinary tract infections."

Up to 96 percent of the babies in the [[United States ]] and [[Canada ]] receive no anesthesia when they are [[circumcised]], according to a report from the {{UNI|University of Alberta |UAlberta}} in Edmonton.<ref name="lander1997"/>

One of the reasons anesthesia is not used, the study found, is the belief that infants feel little or no [[pain ]] from the procedure. It has also been argued that injecting anesthesia can be as painful as circumcision itself, and that infants don't remember the procedure, anyway.

But the Edmonton researchers, whose study was published in this week's ''Journal of the American Medical Association'', studied the heart rates and crying patterns of babies during different stages of circumcision. Some babies were given an anesthetic and others were not.<ref name="lander1997">{{REFjournal |last=Lander |init=J |first=Janice |author-link= |last2=Brady-Frerer |init2=B |first2=Barbara |author2-link= |last3=Metcalfe |init3=JB |first3=James B. |author3-link= |last4=Nazerali |init4=S |first4=Shermin |author4-link= |last5=Muttit |init5=S |first5=Sarah |author5-link= |etal=no |title= Comparison of ring block, dorsal penile nerve block, and topical anesthesia for neonatal circumcision |journal=JAMA |location= |date=1997-12-24 |volume=278 |issue=24 |pages=2157-64 |url=https://canadiancrc.com/circumcision/AMA_journal_circumcision_1997.aspx |archived= |quote= |pubmedID=9417009 |pubmedCID= |DOI= |accessdate=2021-11-07}}</ref>

Rabbi Ariel Asa has performed hundreds of circumcisions. When families request it, he says he puts an anesthetic on the [[skin]], in an effort to reduce some of the [[pain]]. But he admits it's not very effective.

"Due to the fact that ''[[mohel| moyels]]'' (the people who do the procedure) do it very quickly and the [[pain ]] that the baby experiences is minimal, I don't think that the overall benefits are gained," he says.

But the researchers found that while topical anesthetics may help initially, they are woefully inadequate during [[foreskin ]] separation and incision.<ref name="lander1997" />

They concluded that if [[circumcision]] must be performed, it should be preceded by an injected anesthetic.<ref name="lander1997" />

In fact, they found the results so compelling that they took the unusual step of stopping the study before it was scheduled to end rather than subjecting any more babies to circumcision without anesthesia.<ref name="lander1997"/>

* More here: {{REFweb |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/pain/ |title=Pain of circumcision and pain control |last= |first= |init= |publisher=Circumcision Information Reference Library |date=2006-09-11 |accessdate=2022-10-04}}