Abstract

Aim: In this study we intended to point out circumcision with plastic clamp (Ali’s clamp) method which may be an alternative method for reducing intensity of circumcision for pediatric surgeons in summer.

Material and Methods: All circumcisions performed in pediatric surgery clinic at Aksaray State Hospital between August 2014 and June 2016 were evaluated retrospectively. During this period the number of surgical circumcisions and those performed with the aid of a plastic clamp were compared. For both methods, patient’s age at surgery, operative times, cost of the operation and complication rate were determined.

Results: A total of 2367 patients were circumcised by two pediatric surgeons between August 2014 and June 2016. The patients were circumcised either using a surgical procedure (n=236: 9.18%) or with the aid of a plastic clamp method (n=2131:90.02%). The mean operative costs of surgical and plastic clamp circumcisions were 179,6±15 TL and 172,5±10 TL per circumcision, respectively. The mean operative time of plastic clamp method was 8.3±5.9 minutes, whereas the mean operative time of surgical method was 27.5±5.8 minutes. There was a statistically significant difference between plastic clamp method and surgical method in terms of operative time (p=0.01). The total complication rate of Ali’s clamp was 2.06%, and the most common complication was bleeding (1.86%).

Conclusion: The plastic clamp method has lower, and acceptable complication rate, and decreased operative time as compared with surgical method. Particularly in summer, plastic clamp circumcision may be utilized in second-line health care hospitals for optimizing the use of operating room, by decreasing the operative time spent for circumcision.