A Big Leap in the Field of Infant Circumcision

It is true! The new method brought in by Dr. Neil Pollock, a Vancouver doctor was really a revolution. The Vancouver Sun published an article on Dr. Pollock and the new circumcision technique that he has come up with. An article ‘New circumcision technique saves time, resources’, published in ‘The Vancouver Sun’ on November 16, 2012 clearly states about the new technique and Dr. Pollock’s opinion as well. This article written by Mike Hager covers different aspects of the infant circumcision techniques of Dr. Pollock, even with the benefits and opinions that experts share about circumcision.

In the new circumcision technique developed by Dr. Pollock, glue is made use of instead of sutures to close the wound. This technique is mainly meant for patients aged above one year. In this process, the patient will be treated under local anesthetic. This new technique was done for the first time to treat 14 month old son of Flynn and Flora Yu, who was thrice affected by Urinary Tract Infection within the period of nine months. “For us it was a medical issue so we didn’t really have much choice,” said Mr Yu, father of the 14 month old boy.

When it comes to the process, Dr. Pollock clearly explains it is a simple procedure wherein the patient would be given local anesthesia and glue would be made use of to quickly close the wound. Earlier, patients undergoing circumcision were given general anesthesia and sutures were made use of to close the wound. This was a long process done in the operating room of the hospital. Stitches or glue isn’t necessary if the boy is under the age of one as the skin can heal naturally. Dr Pollock said, “I can do the whole surgery and enclosure almost faster than they can roll them in and out of the operating room”. “The benefit to the system is we can off-load all these kids.”

The opponents of infant circumcision argue on this process stating that at such a small age, children don’t have the capability to express their consent to the process. In addition, they also argue that the process reduces their sexual satisfaction in future. On the other hand, in August 2012 the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with new guidelines basing on the review of over a thousand articles. The guidelines were then published in journal Pediatrics which endorsed infant circumcision. Yet, it wasn’t ultimately in favour of the infant circumcision process as it fell short of recommending universally. It stated that the final call is all left to the parents to decide whether or not to have their infant circumcised.

The circumcision process was justified by scientific evidence which suggested a reduction in the risk of Urinary Tract Infection. Apart from that, circumcision even reduces the chance of penile cancer and sexually transmitted diseases like HPV and HIV. 

The Canadian society which isn’t supportive to routine circumcision for infants, is now reviewing on the controversial subject. The society will be publishing a study “written by Canadians for Canadians to help parents make that decision,” within a year.

As the medical professionals in Canada haven’t supported in favour of infant circumcision, the British Columbia’s Ministry of Health pays only for the circumcision which they consider as medically necessary. Cindy MacDougall, the spokeswoman of the ministry told The Sun that between 2011 and 2012, 1153 medically necessary cases were reported, costing $174,670 to the province. In the year before, the province had to cover the expense of 1,387 circumcisions.

Infants suffering from a foreskin infection like phimosis, paraphimosis, posthitis
or Urinary Tract Infections are the ones who need to undergo circumcision upon any doubt. When it comes to boys and men, circumcision helps them to get over infections like HPV and recurrent balanitis. The average cost of the circumcision process is less than $150 per surgery. The cost would be a bit high in the case of infant circumcision. For babies of 2 months or younger, Dr. Pollock charges $445 for the circumcision process. The charges for more medically necessary cases referred by pediatricians are to be figured out yet. With different American establishments supporting the infant circumcision, across the world Dr. Pollock has observed a huge leap in the number of parents requesting this process for their children.

Apart from Vancouver, Pollock extends his services to different cities through expert doctors trained under him. Dr. Buenafe is one among them who is well experienced in undertaking the novel Infant Circumcision procedures developed by Dr. Pollock. Virtually painless, quick (30 second procedure) is one such procedure which has been performed successfully on more than 35,000 circumcisions.