Plastibell: aquick technique to decrease the distress of neonatal circumcision

ABSTRACT

Circumcision remains the most common operation performed on males in many parts of the world. The current pain management for this procedure proves to be helpful but not perfect. We noticed that by reducing the time taken to accomplish the procedure we reduce the suffering of the neonate during circumcision. We describe our experience and technique of plastibell circumcision, which was accomplished safely, in a shorter period of time in spite of being performed by a single handed operator. This study was conducted in the pediatric urology section of the Department of Urology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, including the technique and the results of the neonatal circumcisions that were performed by using the plastibell in all of them. In the last 2 years 2,100 plastibell circumcisions were performed by a single handed physician. The total distress time was from 2 to 3 minutes The overall complications was 0.8% and consisted of mainly bleeding and infection which were managed without major consequences. The use of the plastibell seems to be a superior technique for neonatal circumcision. It provides excellent cosmetic results with few and mild complications. At the present time, we believe reducing the time taken to accomplish the procedure by an experienced person is one of the most important factors in reducing the suffering of neonates at the time of circumcision