Caution must be taken in performing circumcision, says paediatric expert

PUTRAJAYA - When performing circumcision surgery on patients, all doctors, medical officers, and paramedics must exercise extreme caution.

Consultant paediatric surgeon at Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab 2, Kota Bharu, Dr Mohd Tarmizi Mohd Nor said majority of circumcision complication cases happened at private clinics.

"In December 2022, I conducted a post-survey on circumcision complications from Dec 9 that year to Jan 3, 2023.

“From the survey, we found out that majority of the complication cases were from private clinics.

"The complications that occurred included heavy bleeding which involved 45 patients while 39 patients developed wound infections,” he said at the Malaysian International Circumcision Conference 2022, at Everly Hotel, Putrajaya, today.

Dr Tarmizi added that circumcision surgeons should educate patients and parents about post-circumcision care in order to avoid complications.

"In Malaysia, Malays still believe that patients only can consume fish after surgery.

"This is totally wrong. The circumcision patients must take a proper meal and of course eat a lot of vegetables and fruits," he said.

Dr Tarmizi also noted that actions have been taken by the Health Ministry, such as providing a training module to prevent circumcision complications.

He added that circumcision surgeons were only allowed to operate on eight to 10 patients at a time due to the procedure and preparation such as meeting the patients’ parents to brief them on the procedure as well as preparing the operating room.

He said to be extremely functional, the operating room must be clean and there should be a proper washroom and clean water supply.

Dr Tarmizi said the best age for circumcision was between five and seven years old for healthy boys who did not have bleeding disorders or penile anomalies.

According to the statistics, Dr Tarmizi said there were approximately 150,000 Malaysians who were circumcised each year.

The two-day conference was held to discuss the latest guidelines and recent innovations in circumcision.

Seven local and international prominent speakers would be discussing topics of the journey of circumcision around Southeast Asia and the surgical view of female circumcision.

For Muslims, male circumcision is performed for religious reasons, mainly to follow the sunnah (practice) of Prophet Muhammad.