CHAPTER 14
Prevention of Male Circumcision
Complications
MOHAMED A BAKY FAHMY, MD, FRCS
ABSTRACT
Away from the debate between scholars who recom-
mend or fight against male circumcision, the magnitude
of complications following this very common proced-
ure is alarming, and the procedure requires a workup
to prevent and to manage properly and timely any
detectable complication. The most important points e
in my opinion e are the guidelines for safe procedure
and a scheduled long-term follow-up. Links between
the formal and informal health sectors should be
explored elsewhere to institute quality standard
practices for both traditional and medical circumcisers,
for example, wearing sterile gloves, using sterile instru-
ments and appropriate after-care, and for creating a
formal structure to monitor and regulate the conduct
of circumcision.
KEYWORDS
Guidelines; Prevention.
Away from the debate between scholars who
recommend or fight against male circumcision, the
magnitude of complications following this very
common procedure is alarming, and the procedure
requires a workup to prevent and to manage properly
and timely any detectable complication. The most
important points e in my opinion e are the guidelines
for safe procedure and a scheduled long-term follow-
up.
Links between the formal and informal health
sectors should be explored elsewhere to institute qual-
ity standard practices for both traditional and medical
circumcisers, for example, wearing sterile gloves, using
sterile instruments and appropriate after-care, and for
creating a formal structure to monitor and regulate
the conduct of circumcision. Through these steps, it
is likely that the safety of this common procedure
can be substantially improved.
Complications in Male Circumcision. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-68127-8.00014-4
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
There is a lack of a standardized operating practice
for circumcision, including the management and
reporting of adverse events. Further prospective studies
of circumcision risks are needed, with rigorous docu-
mentation using standardized definitions, to compare
the relative risks of different methods, to identify the
optimal age for circumcision and to study the impact
of specific and ongoing training of providers.
Unacceptable levels of risk have been recorded in
some prospective studies of child circumcision by med-
ical providers, and there is an urgent need to improve
the safety of the procedure through renewed training
where necessary. Setting-specific strategies for such
training are needed, including guidelines for safe
neonatal and child circumcision, both in settings where
it is conducted already and in those where it may be
introduced for HIV prevention.
The risks following the traditional circumcision of
older boys tend to be even higher and are a cause of
unnecessary morbidity. Methods to improve training
and practices are urgently needed in order to avoid
unnecessary morbidity and could follow the examples
of the good links between the formal and informal
healthcare services for the provision of traditional
neonatal circumcision in developing countries.
The use of anaesthesia for circumcision varies
widely, with general anaesthesia common in infant
circumcision in the United States, local anaesthesia
used in other settings and no anaesthesia used in
most other places, especially for traditional circumci-
sion. Local anaesthesia for neonatal and infant circum-
cision is recommended by the WHO, and there is a
need to improve the training of circumcision providers
in order to educate them on the appropriate methods
of anaesthesia and hygiene practices.
A number of new devices are now available that are
suitable for the circumcision of men of all ages, from
infancy to adulthood. To date, there is little published
data on the performance of these devices, and detailed
177
178 Complications in Male Circumcision
reviews and comparisons of safety, cost and client satis-
faction are needed.
Neonatal and child circumcision is routinely prac-
tised in many countries for religious, cultural or medical
reasons. The procedure is undertaken by a range of pro-
viders, with the choice of provider depending on family
or religious tradition, cost, availability and perception
of service quality. As a traditional religious and cultural
practice, circumcision is likely to continue to be highly
prevalent around the world and, in addition, is now be-
ing considered for HIV prevention. Every effort must be
made to ensure that the procedure is undertaken as
safely as possible by trained and experienced providers
with adequate supplies and in hygienic conditions.
A set of guidelines on the expansion of circumcision
services produced by the WHO and UNAIDS (Joint
United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) includes
operational guidance for scaling up circumcision for
HIV prevention, a surgical manual for circumcision un-
der local anaesthesia, guidance for decision makers on
human rights and ethical as well as legal considerations
for protocols for monitoring and evaluation.
There is a clear need to improve the safety of circum-
cision in all ages through improved training or retrain-
ing for both traditional and medically trained providers
and to ensure that providers have adequate supplies of
the necessary equipment and instruments for safe
circumcision. Strategies for training and quality assur-
ance are needed and will be context specific. In
Swaziland, Operation AB demonstrated a comprehen-
sive model of training teams of medical providers in
safe and swift adolescent and adult circumcisions,
with improved sterilization equipment and client edu-
cation, at community-level clinics.1
In Ghana, where neonatal circumcision is almost
universal, the formal health service provides training
to traditional providers in Accra, with training on basic
hygiene and the provision of necessary equipment, such
as sterile gloves and dressings.
In South Africa, it has been suggested that commu-
nity health nurses create opportunities to educate tradi-
tional circumcisers of adolescents and adults on the
basic hygiene requirements to be met before, during
and after circumcision.2
The British Association of Paediatric Surgeons sug-
gests that circumcision be performed only by those
who can perform the procedure, recognize any comor-
bidity and complications and have access to medical
care should complications arise.3
REFERENCES
1. Operation Abraham; 2008. http://www.operation-ab.org/.
2. Mayatula V, Mavundla TR. A review on male circumcision
procedures among South African blacks. Curationis. 1997;
20(3):16e20.
3. British Association of Paediatric Surgeons Guidelines. http://
www.baps.org.uk/documents/RELCIRC.html.