Correspondent:

PENTICTON REGIONAL HOSPITAL
Penticton, B.C.

Re: Brochure on infant male circumcision

Thank you very much for sending me a copy of the above. I'd like to offer my comments.

I should perhaps begin by explaining my interest in this issue. I've been researching male and female circumcision for several years. My letters on these subjects have been published in a number of academic journals, including Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the Journal of Law and Medicine. I'm one of the spokespersons for the Association for Genital Integrity, a Canadian group dedicated to raising awareness of the ethical, legal and human rights issues associated with infant male circumcision.

According to the brochure, the risk of infection secondary to circumcision is "very low." However, this statement is contradicted by a recent British study¹ which describes the incidence of wound-related problems after circumcision as "very high." The British researchers found that of 112 circumcisions performed as day surgery in a paediatric unit, 24 (21%) resulted in a later unscheduled visit, and 11 (10%) required a medical intervention. A copy of this study is enclosed.

For your reference, I enclose a list of documented complications from circumcision, both short-term and long-term.

In 2002, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan distributed two memos on circumcision to all Saskatchewan physicians. Copies of these memos are enclosed. The memo dated May 7, 2002, addresses the issue of complications as follows:

Infant male circumcision is often treated as a very minor procedure with virtually no risk of significant complications. That is frankly not true.

The Saskatchewan college also says that performing medically unnecessary surgery on an infant would generally be considered "imprudent if not improper."

Neonatal circumcision is not medically necessary. The recognized authority in Canada on matters related to child health, the Canadian Paediatric Society, recommends that neonatal circumcision "should not be routinely performed." Many Canadian hospitals have stopped performing this procedure.

Is it not strange that a community hospital should continue performing an unrecommended paediatric intervention even after it has caused the death of an infant?

Sincerely,

[signed]

D ennis H arrison
 

1	De la Hunt MN. Paediatric day care surgery: a hidden burden for primary care? Ann R Coll Surg Engl 1999;81:179-82.