Have you heard about male circumcision or sunnath ? You probably did. It is a process through which the foreskin is removed from the tip of the penis.

According to the 4th National Family Health Survey (NFHS - 4), about 16 % of the men in our country undergo circumcision surgery.

While it is a common procedure among several communities, a lot of people might not know about what it is, what its benefits are. And most importantly, about the advanced ways of conducting it, like stapler circumcision.

This article will shed some light on circumcision in general and stapler circumcision in particular.

To completely understand circumcision, first of all, let us see what a foreskin is.

What is a Foreskin?

There is a piece of skin around the tip of your penis. That is commonly known as Foreskin.

When you are a child, the penis and foreskin are completely attached to each other. When a child grows (between the age of 2 and 6), the penis and foreskin get separated or loosened up. And this foreskin can be pulled back or retracted.

But for some young boys, this retraction doesn't happen and the foreskin remains tight around the penis head. It even has a name - Phimosis.

This retraction of foreskin doesn't happen among some adults too,

What happens when foreskin cannot be retracted?

Phimosis itself isn't problematic. But if it shows certain symptoms, you need to consult a doctor and take proper treatment.

Now let us be mindful of some of the symptoms you need to be alert of :-

• If you experience pain when you are peeing, also known as Dysuria.

• There is an infection or irritation or you feel itchy down there, which results in a redness or discolouration in your penis.

• Swelling or inflammation of penis.

• When you get an erection or are engaged in a sexual activity, you experience pain.

The most common treatment for Phimosis is circumcision.

Now let us see what circumcision is.

What is Circumcision?

What do we mostly know about circumcision? That it is a religious or cultural belief prevalent among Islamic and Jewish Community. Some tribal groups of Africa and Australia also undergo circumcision as a part of their cultural belief.

But is it only some kind of tradition? Not necessarily. Sometimes due to medical situations, circumcision can be recommended by doctors. In some other places, circumcision is done in order to avoid the risk of sexually transmitted disease.

What are the benefits of Circumcision?

• Do you find it hard to clean your penis with foreskin? Circumcision makes it easy for you to clean your penis.

• Risk of Urinary Tract Infection is more in uncircumcised men. By doing circumcision you can avoid infection which could lead to kidney problems in your later life.

• Like we discussed earlier, circumcision reduces the chances of sexually transmitted diseases.

• Phimosis or trouble with the retraction foreskin can be avoided by circumcision.

• Penis cancer is less in Circumcised man. Also partners of circumcised partners have less chance of getting cervical cancer.

When do you need Circumcision?

Apart from religious and cultural belief, when should a man or a young boy consider going for circumcision surgery?

• If your foreskin is very tight - a condition that’s medically known as Phimosis, circumcision is the only way to treat it.

• If the head of your penis becomes inflamed or infected (medical term is recurrent balanitis), you can choose circumcision.

• What happens when your foreskin cannot be returned to its original position, after you pull it back. A swollen and painful tip of the penis can be a concern. This condition is known as Paraphimosis. This too can be treated through circumcision.

• If you have a condition called Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans and your penis head becomes inflamed and scarred, circumcision can be helpful.

• If you have penile cancer or there happens to be an ulcer on the head of the penis or under the foreskin, you might need circumcision.

Know more about cost of circumcision surgery

Kinds of Circumcision

There are several kinds of circumcision. Let us know some of them before we dive into stapler circumcision.

- The Gomco Clamp circumcision: In this the foreskin is crushed and is later removed using a scalpel.

- The Plastibell Circumcision: A tight ligature is fastened around the foreskin, then pulled over a grooved plastic ring - Plastibell. After this, the skin beyond the ligature is removed.

- The Mogen Clamp Circumcision: In this, the foreskin is clamped and then cut away.

- Laser Circumcision: A laser beam is used to remove the foreskin

Now let us see Stapler Circumcision in detail.

What is Stapler Circumcision?

Well the very name might have given you an idea what device is used in the stapler circumcision.

Yes, here we use a stapler to remove the foreskin of the penis. But do not worry, it is not at all painful as it sounds.

The staple we use here is medical equipment specifically designed for this purpose. This stapler is also called Anastomat.

In this kind of circumcision following are the steps the health experts follow usually :-

• Measurement is taken to determine which device will suit the patient the most.

• The area will be numbed using a local anaesthesia.

• Area undergoing surgery will be cleaned.

• An inner bell needs to be inserted. So in the foreskin they will make an incision and insert it and make sure that it is in the correct position.

• Head of the penis will be fixed to the foreskin using a surgical tie.

• An outer bell will be screwed into the inner bell.

• The stapler will be fired. It will be held for a few minutes to make sure that a clean cut is made in the foreskin.

• Inner bell will be partially released.This is to ensure the complete removal of foreskin.

• Wound will be cleaned and penis will be bandaged using special bandages.

This entire process is completely safe and the patient can go home on the same day.

Patient will undergo a follow up check up in a few days to make sure that there is not any infection.Compression bandage will also be removed.

The patient will be taught by an expert how to take care of the wound which is open now. He won't be able to be involved in any sexual intercourse for about 2-3 weeks.

Know more about Stapler Circumcision

What are some of the advantages of Stapler Circumcision?

• The healing process takes place in 2 weeks which is much less than other kinds of circumcision.

• Since the experts make sure that the cutaneous and the superficial blood vessels are totally compressed, possibilities of bleeding are very minute.

• Compared to other circumcisions,the whole process will take much less time.

• Pain during the recovery period is very less.

• It is a sutureless surgery.

• There isn't any Complication.

• Because only a circular scar remains after the surgery, stapler circumcision doesn't make your penis look weird.