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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.

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.

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 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" />