Ali’sKlamp
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Manufacturer’s photograph |
The Basics
Brought to our attention in late 2007, the Ali’sKlamp is a disposable male circumcision device that has been designed for circumcising aesthetically, quickly and without blood loss or the use of sutures. The country of origin is Turkey.
The clamp consists of two parts, a transparent polycarbonate tube and a white plastic clamping mechanism. It achieves circumcision by means of crushing the foreskin. Excess tissue is removed using a scalpel, but that cut does not define the eventual scar line. The scalpel cut merely disposes of what would otherwise become a mass of necrotic tissue. The final scar line forms beneath the clamping ring, by means of a healing process first associated with the Tara KLamp (another clamp-and-wear device which pre-dates the Ali’sKlamp by about 12 years).
The device looks very similar to the SmartKlamp but differs in one important respect: The clamping ring is angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the device. Thus the line of the circumcision scar produced by the Ali’sKlamp naturally follows the rim of the glans (the corona), whereas the SmartKlamp device naturally produces a scar line perpendicular to the shaft of the penis. Whilst it is possible to adjust a foreskin being clamped with a SmartKlamp so as to achieve alignment with the corona, the Ali’sKlamp does this naturally and so simplifies the procedure.
[In the interests of historical accuracy it should be noted that the Dutch company originally producing the SmartKlamp, Circumvent BV, did experiment with angled clamping rings in their prototype adult sizes, but ceased trading before these came to the market.]
Availability
Supply is restricted to members of the medical profession who have been trained in its use. Training is normally available in Turkey and the UK, elsewhere by arrangement. The clamp is produced in 5 different sizes, from infants (10mm) to early puberty (18mm). Two adult sizes are in prospect. It is EO sterilized. There is a measuring device with every clamp in order to help the user choose the correct size.
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Measuring Device |
Company Logo |
Five Sizes |
Known use
We are aware of the clamp being used in Turkey, England and Wales. Within the UK, use appears to be confined to Islamic circumcisions within the Bengali communities of southern England and the Cardiff area of south Wales. Both communities traditionally circumcise in a loose style that retains the frenulum and is neither fully high nor fully low. This the Ali’sKlamp achieves. Its theoretical suitability for circumcisions in other styles has not been widely demonstrated.
Further information, provided by the supplier
The product brochure indicates that, in the hands of trained personnel, the device provides for a safe procedure outside the clinic (in homes, collective circumcision events and in environments where sterilisation to normal clinical standards is missing).
We are told that Patents, Industrial Design Registration, Trademark Registration and CE Certification exist. It has also been reported that USA FDA approval has been granted, although the company appears not to have updated their own website to show this.
Field Trial report (2010)
The Ali’s Clamp has been the subject of large-scale, published comparative testing. Here is the Abstract of the report:
Pediatr Surg Int. 2010 Jun 8. [Epub ahead of print]
Minimally invasive circumcision with a novel plastic clamp technique: a review of 7,500 cases. Senel FM, Demirelli M, Oztek S.
Dr. Sami Ulus Children’s Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
PURPOSE: We aimed to analyze the outcome of circumcisions performed with a new minimally invasive circumcision device. METHODS: This is the first study, which reports the results of 7,500 children circumcised with minimally invasive technique utilizing a plastic clamp device (Ali’s Clamp ®) in our country. The results of this technique are compared to those of 5,700 children who underwent conventional circumcision.
RESULTS: The most common complication encountered after minimally invasive circumcision technique was found to be buried penis (1.04%). The second complication observed was infection (0.6%), which was significantly lower than the conventional group (p < 0.001). The third complication in plastic clamp group was bleeding with a rate of 0.4%. Bleeding was found to be the most common complication seen after conventional circumcision (5%) and was significantly higher than that of the plastic clamp group (p < 0.001). Total number of complications seen after plastic clamp technique was 2% when compared with 10.4% complication rate occurred after conventional circumcision (p < 0.001). The mean duration of circumcision time with plastic clamp technique was 4.5 ± 1.5 minutes whereas with conventional circumcision it was 23 ± 4 minutes (p < 0.0001).
CONCLUSION: Minimally invasive circumcision technique utilizing plastic clamp significantly reduced the complication rates. The cosmetic appearance after circumcisions performed with this technique was observed to be better than the conventional circumcisions. Due to reduced complications, as well as short duration and ease of application, the minimally invasive technique is suggested as the circumcision procedure of choice.
PMID: 20532526 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher].
CIRCLIST Editor’s note:
This article appears to mis-use the term Buried Penis. In the full article, the authors define it as "healing of wound edges above the glans penis... causing a constrictive ring at this level resulting in phimosis", a matter unrelated to any issue involving a short suspensory ligament within the abdomen. A better term for the problem they seek to describe might be "Induced phimosis resulting from scar line constraint" - after initial definition shortened to just "scar line constraint".
Want to know more?
Further information in four languages (Turkish, English, German and Arabic) is available on the manufacturer’s website. There you will find a detailed description of the procedure for use, along with photographs and a video demonstration.
http://www.alisklamp.com/
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