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[[File:Circumcised_flaccid.jpg|thumb|Penis with a visible circumcision scar]]
In males who have been circumcised, the '''circumcision scar''' refers to the [[scar]] remaining after a [[circumcision]] has healed. In some cases, the scar can be darker-colored, and, in all cases, it will encircle the shaft of the [[penis]].
==Appearance==
The scar, which completely encircles the shaft of the penis, is located at the boundary of the shaft skin and the inner [[foreskin]] remnant, which is the portion of the foreskin that was not removed during circumcision. This foreskin remnant is mucosa that lies between the glans and the circumcision scar, which results in dissimilar tissue healing together. In adult circumcision part of the [[frenulum]] may remain intact. The foreskin remnant is dried mucosa and can often have a different color and texture than the rest of the penile skin. It can be pinkish or light-colored, and it typically becomes covered with keratin to protect it from a dry environment. Some circumcision scars result in a marked color difference on the shaft.
The characteristics of the circumcision scar often depend on the technique that was used. Open surgical techniques using sutures may cause uneven scarring where the sutures were placed. Newborn circumcisions do not require sutures and therefore can result in a fine, even scar.<ref name="Infant">{{Cite conference| publisher = World Health OrganizationREFdocument | title = Manual for early infant male circumcision under local anaesthesia |url=http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44478/1/9789241500753_eng.pdf |contribution= |last= |first= |publisher=World Health Organization | location format= Geneva | date = 2010 |accessdate=2019-10-18}}</ref> Circumcisions after the newborn period that are performed without sutures (techniques that use cyanoacrylate tissue adhesive instead of sutures and techniques like Plastibell that heal by secondary intention) often result in an even, circumferential scar.
Non-surgical [[foreskin restoration]] will eventually result in the scar being concealed within the foreskin.
==Problems with the scar==
There is some controversy as to what happens to the severed nerves of the foreskin at the scar. Xin ''et al''. (1997) suggest that nerves regenerate, forming new receptors.<refname="Xin1997">{{vcite journalREFjournal |authorlast=Xin |first=ZC, |author-link= |last2=Choi |first2=YD, |author2-link= |last3=Rha |first3=KH, |author3-link= |last4=Choi |first4=HK |author4-link= |etal=no |title=Somatosensory evoked potentials in patients with primary premature ejaculation |journaltrans-title= |language= |journal=J Urol |date=1997 |volume=158 |issue=2 |pages=451–7451-7 |url= |doiquote= |pubmedID=9224321 |pubmedCID= |DOI=10.1016/S0022-5347(01)64499-9|pmid=9224321 |pmcaccessdate=2019-10-18}}</ref> However, pathologists Cold & Taylor (1999) report: "Histology of the male circumcision scar shows amputation neuromas, Schwann cell proliferation and the bulbous collection of variably sized neurites. Amputation neuromas do not mediate normal sensation and are notorious for generating pain."<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Cold
|first=C.J.
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1034.x
|accessdate=2019-10-10
}}</ref> Three cases of penile cancer have occurred on the scar.<ref>{{cite journal REFjournal |last1last=Fetsch |first=J |first1author-link=JF |last2=Davis |first2=CJ |first2author2-link=Jr |last3=Miettinen |first3=M |author3-link= |last4=Sesterhenn |first4=IA |author4-link= |etal=no |title=Leiomyosarcoma of the penis: a clinicopathologic study of 14 cases with review of the literature and discussion of the differential diagnosis. |trans-title= |language= |journal=The American Journal of Surgical Pathology |date=January 2004 -01 |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=115–25 115-25 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1234754 |pmidquote= |pubmedID=14707873 |pubmedCID= |doiDOI=10.1097/00000478-200401000-00014 |urlaccessdate=https://zenodo.org/record/1234754 2019-10-19}}</ref>
==Additional images==