Contra-Indications to
Neonatal Circumcision
In general, CIRCLIST promotes male circumcision - but seeks to do so responsibly. There are a number of birth defects (some congenital, some genetic) which suggest that circumcision should not be performed on a boy suffering from one or more of these problems at least until such time as the birth defect has been cured or controlled. These medical conditions are termed contra-indications and are listed here.
The following are normally regarded as contra-indications to neonatal circumcision:
Physical abnormalities of the genitalia:
Pervasive Disorders:
- Haemophilia.
- Thrombocytopenia.
- Any disorder of the skin impairing normal healing. (Example: Eczema.)
- Any disorder of connective tissue impairing normal healing. (Example: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.)
- Any current illness or medical condition. (Examples: Jaundice, Prematurity.)
Legal and Professional constraints:
Absence of Informed Consent freely given by someone with Parental Responsibility. (For more detail about legal issues please visit
Legal Corner).
Overall incidence of contra-indications
The above list of medical contra-indications looks formidable, but many of these conditions are very rare and accurate statistics regarding incidence are incomplete. Penile Torsion, especially, is poorly documented. The lack of accurate data confounds attempts to deduce an overall figure for the incidence of contra-indications. Our "best guess" is that clinical contra-indications to infant circumcision arising from physical abnormalities of the genitalia exist in about 2% of live male births.
Acknowledgements
CIRCLIST acknowledges the following sources, used in the preparation of this web page:
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Website of Stanford School of Medicine. |
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