Traditional surgery

Both traditional surgery or CO2 laser circumcision may be performed under general or local anesthesia. For local anesthesia, anesthetics will be injected at the bottom of the penis to block the penile nerves as well as the area to be circumcised. For general anesthesia, patients will first fall into a coma after inhaling the anesthetic gas before anesthetics are injected into the area to be circumcised.

Generally, it is advisable for children undergoing circumcision to receive general anesthesia to prevent them from moving during the surgery. Professional anesthesiologists will also be present to supervise the surgery. Patients will be awake few minutes after the surgery.

After the patient has undergone anesthesia, the surgeon will remove the redundant foreskin using a surgical knife. The surgery takes around 45 minutes. The incision is then closed up using absorbable stitches and tissue glue. Recovery takes around 2 weeks, and there is no need for stitches to be removed. Vigorous exercise and sexual activity may only be performed 3 weeks after surgery.

Despite being an effective treatment, circumcision by traditional surgery causes more bleeding. As the penis is filled with blood vessels, it will bleed profusely when the surgical knife incises the foreskin. The surgeon therefore has to spend more time to stop the bleeding using an electric knife, which may cause burns in other areas. In addition, the wounds of some patients may not heal properly, causing blood to ooze from the wound when capillaries fail to stop bleeding.

The information provided on this website is for educational purposes only. Please consult your physicians before considering treatment or for detailed medical advice.