Bleeding at circumcision: patient or operator issue?

The goal of this study is to define precisely bleeding after circumcision and to determine whether patient-related variables or experience of the operator is associated with subsequent bleeding.

This is a prospective cohort study of 537 consecutive Gomco circumcisions. The authors defined bleeding and operator experience, both current and long term, and sought to correlate them. They selected patient variables (age, weight, gestational age, APGAR scores, and demographic data) to determine if there were associations with subsequent bleeding.

There were 24 bleeds out of 537 Gomco procedures (4.47%). In comparing bleeders with nonbleeders, there was no significant association between long-term operator experience and subsequent bleeding (P = .609). However, bleeding was significantly associated with less current operator experience (P = .014). The authors were unable to detect any patient-related variables or demographics associated with subsequent bleeding.

Regarding postcircumcision bleeding, current operator experience appears to be a more important factor than long-term experience or patient-related variables.