When circ's go bad...

momredman · May 5, 2006

In 22 yrs. I have seen my fair share of bad, butchered and bleeding cirs's. The worst case senerio was a fairly new ped, who uses the mogan clamp device cut the tip of the head off. Talk about a horrible mess, not just for the nurses but the baby and his parents. A nice urologist showed up to save the day. One of my coworkers also worked in the peds office and she said within a few months new tissue granulated in and his member looks perfectly normal now. But due to the 70% medicaid pts. circs are not paid for in the state of MO. This has sharply cut into the number of circs done. And its fine by me.

dawngloves, BSN, RN · May 5, 2006

Did anyone see the Penn and Teller *B*S* episode about circs?

It is hilarious! And informative too! Contains adult language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsoqo1BLwCU

lpn1217 · May 6, 2006

I just recieves a dvd from no circ .org about circ. only about 50% of our babies are circed and some ask what i think .of course i tell them that it is an individual decision,and just because daddy is doesnt mean that the baby has to be. if the child asks why his member looks diiferent than daddys he can tell him that when he was a baby they did it all the time,but now we learned that we dont need to do it so you look like this and i look like that!

RNnL&D · May 6, 2006

Did anyone see the Penn and Teller *B*S* episode about circs?
It is hilarious! And informative too! Contains adult language.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsoqo1BLwCU

Thanks for sharing the link. I had heard about this program but hadn't watched it before. My husband reluctantly agreed not to circ our son. All the info I gave him couldn't compare to his reaction to the P&T show. Now, he is as anti circ as I am.

mshultz · May 8, 2006

In her Saturday, April 29, 2006 blog,

http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/

Michelle talks about why she and her husband, both physicians, decided not to get their infant circumcised. They felt that an elective procedure without significant medical benefit did not justify the risk, however small. She also mentions that hardly any infants are circumcised at her hospital in New York City.

SmilingBluEyes · May 8, 2006

It takes time and persistence to turn the tide. The issue of elective (not religiously-motivated) circumcision is no different, from what I can see.

texas-rn-fnp · May 10, 2006

There is not a medical indication for circs, just cosmetic, religious, or personal preference. Patients should make an informed consent. Hygeine can be accomplished just as well either way.

Normal is whatever you think it should be.

Kamy · Jul 12, 2006

From everything I've read, adults don't need to be circ'd later in life unless there's a major problem, and often even those circs are unnessacary.
I once cared for a patient who was an older man and had to have a circumcision for hygiene reasons. He was very confused and the first time he went to the bathroom he asked me what had happened to him and began tugging at himself to get the foreskin to come back down. I felt horrible for him. This was the only time I've ever seen or heard of though. Circumcision is just for looks (or religious reasons)

schmidt68127 · Jul 12, 2006

I've assisted with hundreds of circumcisions. One of the docs I assisted, would go into the parent's room prior to the procedure and advise them on what the procedure entailed. She always told the parents that "sometimes the member will bleed and I will need to put a stitch in it to make it stop." Every single time this doc did a circumcision, she removed too much of the foreskin. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to tell the parents NOT to let her do it, but I couldn't. Several of the infants needed urologists and plastic surgeons to fix what she botched.

RNnL&D · Jul 12, 2006

I've assisted with hundreds of circumcisions. One of the docs I assisted, would go into the parent's room prior to the procedure and advise them on what the procedure entailed. She always told the parents that "sometimes the member will bleed and I will need to put a stitch in it to make it stop." Every single time this doc did a circumcision, she removed too much of the foreskin. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to tell the parents NOT to let her do it, but I couldn't. Several of the infants needed urologists and plastic surgeons to fix what she botched.

We have a couple docs who are not very adept at circ's. Some require sutures. Almost all require silver nitrate sticks to control the bleeding. Unfortunately, parents don't know it's not normal for their son's member to be black after a circ. There are many docs who don't require anything but gauze to slow the bleeding and then the vasoline gauze. What I don't understand is why these docs don't ask for assistance if they have so many problems.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Jul 12, 2006

We have a couple docs who are not very adept at circ's. Some require sutures. Almost all require silver nitrate sticks to control the bleeding. Unfortunately, parents don't know it's not normal for their son's member to be black after a circ. There are many docs who don't require anything but gauze to slow the bleeding and then the vasoline gauze. What I don't understand is why these docs don't ask for assistance if they have so many problems.

There are way too many doc out there who need assistance with a lot of things, but they're too proud/egotistical/scared to ask. We've all worked with them in every part of the hospital. They're the docs that when you find out they're on call that night, you cringe...

I'm not sure who does the circs in our newborn nursery, but in our NICU we actually have two urologists who do it - one on Tuesdays, the other on Fridays. They use lidocaine locally to do a penile block, the baby gets sucrose on a pacifier, plus we administer Tylenol beforehand and then for 24-48 hours afterwards. Our boys seem to do pretty well, and it's rare to see a bad circ from these urologists. I mean, who better?

If I have a boy and decide to get him circumsized, and if I'm lucky enough to have him in the newborn nursery instead of the NICU...I'm calling these docs personally to ask one of them to do the procedure, even if I have to take him to their outpatient offices.