Circumcision with Thermocautery after Local Anesthesia in Children: A Retrospective Single-Center Experience

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the short- and long-term complications of thermocautery-assisted circumcisions with local anesthesia done in a sterile environment in operating room conditions, accompanied by literature. The participants who consecutively underwent thermocautery-assisted circumcision with local anesthesia from June 2018 to May 2019 were included in the study. As a local anesthetic, 40-mg lidocaine HCl, 0.025-mg adrenaline, and bupivacaine 5 mg/ml were used together. They were 1 month to 17 years old, had same ethnic origin, and were in the same location. The age groups were compared in terms of complications. The participant age and surgical duration means were 4.89 ± 2.08 (30 days to 17 years) years old and 7.484 ± 1.524 (5–20 min) min, respectively. Complications were observed in 53 participants or 2.9% of the whole observation set. The participants under intervals of 1–6 months and over 6 years of age had significantly lower complication rates when compared to the other participants, and this comparison was statistically significant (P = 0.001). The study results demonstrated that circumcision with thermocautery after local anesthesia is a viable, reliable, and effective method. It can be assumed that circumcisions in males especially may be effective in 1–6 months and over 6 years of age. Parents choose this method because it is more appropriate and eliminates the risk of general anesthesia.