Medical Devices

According to promotional materials from the manufacturer:

• "Always a fast, easy means of immobilizing newborns for circumcision..."
• "In less than 30 seconds a nurse can immobilize a struggling infant..."
• "He's held safely and securely without danger of escape."
• "Circumstraint's comfortable contoured shape positions the infant, hips elevated, perfectly presenting the genitalia."

Manufacturer: Olympic Medical Company/Seattle, WA

Photo: James Loewen

Gomco Circumcision Clamp

Photo: James Loewen

Manufacturer: Allied Healthcare Products, Inc./St. Louis, MO

Circumstraint and Gomco Devices
in Use Together

The patient cannot understand, consent, refuse or escape.

Some physicians today, notably Murray Katz and Neil Pollock (Canada), have ardently promoted the use of the Mogen Clamp for hospital circumcisions. The word "Mogen" in Hebrew means "shield." The Mogen Clamp, however, like the Sheldon Clamp, fails to shield the glans from injury. According to Elliot Grossman, M.D. "glans injury is not uncommon."

The plastic bell is placed over the glans of the penis and the foreskin is pulled over the outside of the bell. After the foreskin is tied with string, all tissue above the string is cut off with scissors, and the handle is then snapped off.
Manufacturer: Hollister, Inc./Libertyville, IL

Instructions claim the rim is supposed to fall off within one week. The Plastibell has caused numerous complications, including necrotizing fasciitis (extensive tissue death) and sloughing (shedding) of the penis.

This clamp does not protect the glans of the penis. In 1994, at Marin General Hospital (Greenbrae, CA), the glans of a baby boy was cut off during a circumcision in which a Sheldon Clamp was used.

A journal article describing the incident (right) states, "The potential for complications during circumcision is real and ranges from the insignificant to the tragic."

Gluckman G, et al. Newborn Penile Amputation
During Circumcision and Successful Reattachment.
Journal of Urology (153) 1995:778-79.

Manufacturer: Bayshore Mfg. Co./Port Clinton, OH

This circumcision device is promoted as offering "A Kinder Cut - Breath Easier." It was developed with partial funding from the Malaysian government.

This single-use device is produced in many sizes - infant to adult. After the foreskin is amputated, the device remains on the penis for a few days. It is touted as "the last frontier in circumcision surgery."

Manufacturer: TaraKlamp Healthcare Products/Penang, Malaysia

A well-meaning physician invented this product as an alternative to the Circumstraint board. One of her concerns was that the infant should have a soft, comfortable surface on which to lie during circumcision. It is doubtful that the focus of an infant's comfort during circumcision will be on his back side. Her naïveté concerning the more serious issues raised by circumcision is perhaps best expressed by the "happy faces" that adorn the promotional flyers for the Circ Sheet.

Manufacturer: K. BowMed/N. Wilkesboro, NC

Infant Circumcision / Surgical chair

"Designed by a physician to benefit the child and the family."

"This lightweight chair positions the infant comfortably while providing surgical access to the operative site. And gently restrains the patient to prevent movement during the procedure."

Moslems and Jews share the same rationale for ritual circumcision of males, Abraham's covenant with his god, so it is not surprising that their circumcision instruments are similar.

Among those used are a split slab of wood (left), a split reed (middle), a perforated plate through which the foreskin is drawn (upper right), and the Jewish barzel (lower right). The foreskin is drawn through the slit of the barzel.

A Jewish circumcision knife is called an izmel, whether or not it is used exclusively for ritual circumcisions. The izmel is a honed, double-edged knife and can cut with either side.

Pictured at right are three ancient izmel. At the far right is a modern izmel.