Efficacy of three types of circumcision for children in the treatment of phimosis: A retrospective study

Abstract

Phimosis is a common condition of the urinary system in children and often requires surgical treatment. However, the optimal method of circumcision for children has not been determined. Herein, we analyzed the efficacy of 3 circumcision methods for children with phimosis. A retrospective analysis of 112 cases of pediatric phimosis after circumcision was conducted at our hospital. Among them, 36 cases were subjected to conventional operation (group A), 43 cases to ring circumcision (group B), and 33 cases to suturing device circumcision (group C). The duration of operation, amount of bleeding, pain, complications, healing time, and the satisfaction of the guardians were calculated. The operation time of group B and C was (6.26 ± 1.31) min and (7.67 ± 1.29) min, respectively, which was shorter than group A (27.42 ± 2.42) min (P < .05); besides, group A had the most blood loss volume, (9.67 ± 1.67) mL, and group B was the least (1.26 ± 0.44) mL (P < .05); group B had the strongest postoperative pain (4.05 ± 0.37), the longest pain time (6.84 ± 1.29) days, and the longest healing time (21.84 ± 4.23) days (P < .05). Postoperative complications were lowest in group C (11.11% vs 20.93% vs 6.06%), satisfaction of guardians was highest in group C (86.11% vs 85.27% vs 89.99%), but the difference was not statistically significant (P > .05). Three types of surgical procedures present with advantages and disadvantages. The conventional surgery led to longer operation time and more bleeding but did not require special medical equipment and was easy to carry out; ring surgery had the shortest operation time, the least bleeding, accompanied by the longest recovery time and pain duration; the complications of the suturing device were the least, the parents had the highest degree of satisfaction, however, it also needs a specific suturing device. Therefore, each type had its distinctive characteristics and may be flexibly selected based on their own conditions.