Easing the Pain of Circumcision

Week in review Section

It hurts alot longer when a newborn boy's foreskin is cut off than previously thought, and the traditional placing of a whiskey coated finger in the baby's mouth is hardly adequate to relieve the pain, according to pediatric researchers at Rochester General Hospital in New York. The researchers concluded from a controlled study of 44 circumcised newborns that all should get a regional anesthetic at the time of the procedure and most would benefit from pain medication every six hours for a day after the surgery. But while 86 percent of all infants are circumcised and nearly all the procedures are done in hospitals, most recieve little or nothing to ease the discomfort during surgery and fewer still recieve painkillers in the hours or days afterward. The researchers, headed by Dr. Cynthia R. Howard, rated indicators of discomfort in 23 babies given liquid Tylenol during and after circumcision and in 21 babies who recieved no pain medication. Judging from the babies crying, heart rates, breathing patterns, facial expressions, consolability, and sucking behavior, the researchers concluded that the immediate pain of circumcision was too severe to be quelled by Tylenol, but that the medication did relieve the lingering pain starting about six hours after surgery.

Byline: Jane E. Brody. Write or FAX to the NY Times and let them know your feelings: New York Times Letters to the Editor, 229 W 43rd St., New York, NY 10036, FAX 212-556-3690.

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