Adult male circumcision outcomes: experience in a developing country setting

Introduction: We examined male circumcision outcomes among young adults in an African setting.

Materials and methods: Participants were healthy, sexually active, uncircumcised, HIV-seronegative males aged 18-24 years. The main outcomes measured included complications, healing, satisfaction and resumption of activities.

Results: Of 1,475 procedures, 26 (1.8%) were associated with 27 adverse events, most commonly wound disruption/delayed healing (0.6%), wound infection (0.4%), and bleeding (0.3%). Adverse events per clinician averaged 3.8 and 2.1% for procedures 1-100 and 101-200, respectively, and <1% for procedures 201-300, 301-400 and >400, respectively (p < 0.001). Participants resumed normal general activities after a median of 1 postoperative day and 93% with regular employment resumed working within 1 week. After 30 days, 99% of participants reported being very satisfied. After 90 days, 65% reported having had sex, 45% reported that their partners had expressed an opinion, 92% of whom were very satisfied with the outcome.

Conclusions: Safe and acceptable adult male circumcision services can be delivered in developing country settings.