LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Circumcision: Risks
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Circumcision slightly lowers the risk of developing cancer of the penis in later life. However, this form of cancer is very rare. One of every one million men who are circumcised will develop cancer of the penis each year. By comparison, 3 of every one million men who are not circumcised will develop penile cancer each year.
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Circumcision does not prevent HIV – in high prevalence areas it reduced the risk of female-to-male transmission. HIV acquisition rates were ... high in both the circumcised and the non-circumcised groups involved in the trials.
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There are a few situations that may cause a circumcision to be delayed. Babies that are born prematurely need to wait until they are ready to be discharged from the hospital before they can undergo circumcision. Babies who are born with a defect of the penis may need to delay circumcision (eg, hypospadias, which causes the urethral meatus (where urine exits the penis) to be in an abnormal location). If there is a family history of bleeding disorders, the baby's doctor may recommend waiting until the risk of bleeding can be determined.
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Making hygiene easier is often a reason given for performing circumcision. In the adolescent and adult male, the glands of the foreskin secrete a fluid called smegma. These secretions may accumulate beneath the foreskin and occasionally irritate the penis; and sometimes the penis becomes infected. Removing the foreskin removes the secretions, makes the care of the penis easier, and lessens the risk of infection. With normal bathing... an intact foreskin is quite easy to care for.
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In the only true meta-analysis to date, Weiss et al reviewed data from 27 studies and concluded that circumcision substantially reduces the risk of HIV infection across all populations evaluated. A study of 187 HIV-discordant couples in Uganda showed no infections occurring in 50 circumcised HIV-1-negative male subjects compared with 40 infections among 137 HIV-1-negative uncircumcised male subjects (Bailey, 1999). Circumcision ... decreases the likelihood of one's acquiring genital ulcerative diseases known to be independent risk factors for the transmission of HIV.
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There are complications of circumcision. The true incidence of complications is unknown, but recent large studies have estimated the risk of complications to be between 0.2% and 0.6%, most of them minor and short-term (Harkavy, Pediatrics, 79:649, 1987), although rarely amputation does occur. Bleeding is the most common complication, and newborn circumcision should not be performed if there is a family history of bleeding problems. It should ... be delayed in any child who is sick, premature, or who has any abnormality of the penis.
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