RESUMO
When confronted to a section of the glans in a child, whether or not accompanied by urethral fistula, it is possible to eliminate an accident during circumcision in favour of a strangulation by means of a hair as the cause of the injury: first of all the finding of a hair wound around the penis secundly the time elapsed between circumcision and the discovery of the strangulation symptoms. Reviewing 38 cases treated over 4 years, the authors have aimed at classifying the various resulting wounds into 4 main types which imply different appropriate treatments. The social aspects of this pathology are also investigated: while in some cases the procedure may be traced back to more or less rational motives [haemostasis following circumcision child play or attempt to treat enuresis] many are the cases which can only be the result of ritual or criminal practice