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WARNING: The following information describes actual circumcision procedures. You may wish to skip some or all of this section. |
How a circumcision is performed will mainly depend on the preferences of the surgeon performing the operation. It will also depend on the use of any anaesthetic, which can be related to the baby's age (for example a general anaesthetic will not be given routinely to a baby under 6 months of age).
A baby boy's foreskin is naturally adhered to the head (or 'glans') of their penis at birth. This gradually separates on its own by the time the child is about 2 to 5 years of age. The foreskin of a baby cannot be pulled all the way back over the head of the boy's penis until around this time. The general care of an uncircumcised penis is discussed in
Class 11.
To enable the foreskin (or 'prepuce') to be removed for circumcision, the surgeon must first insert a fine probe between the foreskin and the head of the penis to separate them. This causes a small amount of bleeding and makes the head of the newly circumcised penis look very red and raw for a week or so, until it heals.
Once the foreskin is freed from the head of the penis it can then be removed. This can be done by using a:
Mogen clamp
Gomco clamp
Plastibell
Mogen clamp. A Mogen clamp is the method used for a traditional Jewish 'bris' and was the original method of choice for circumcisions up until 30 years ago (when alternative methods were introduced). It is still a popular method for circumcising babies less than 2 weeks of age but it may also be used for older babies and adults.
Up until the last decade, using a Mogen clamp did not entail the use of any anaesthetic. Many caregivers justified this (and still do in some cases, for religious reasons) because the procedure is believed to be 'so quick'.