SynthesisBulletin of the World Health Organization2010
Traditional male circumcision in eastern and southern Africa: a systematic review of prevalence and complications.
Synthesis in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Use of a disposable circumcision suture device versus conventional circumcision: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Asian journal of andrologyPooled it
- Trial
- Adult male circumcision with a circular stapler versus conventional circumcision: A prospective randomized clinical trial.Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica · 2015Trial
- Penile glans amputation following untrained male circumcision in rural Somalia: A case report of a rare but serious complication in a resource-limited setting Somalia.Urology case reports · 2026Article
- A novel circumcision technique for adult phimosis combining three techniques: a retrospective comparative study.International journal of impotence research · 2025Article
- Severe Wound Infection and Complications Following Traditional Male Circumcision in Rural Somalia: A Case Report of Malpractice in a Resource-Limited Setting.International medical case reports journal · 2025Article
- Acceptability of Medical Male Circumcision as an HIV Prevention Intervention among Male Learners in a South African High School.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Substantial but spatially heterogeneous progress in male circumcision for HIV prevention in South Africa.Communications medicine · 2024Article
- Male circumcision perceptions among HIV vaccine trial participants in Soweto: Qualitative study.Journal of the colleges of medicine of South Africa · 2024Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Acceptability of Medical Male Circumcision among Males in Traditionally Circumcising Rural Communities of Alfred Nzo District, Eastern Cape, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Newspaper Coverage of Violence Related to Initiation and Traditional Male Circumcision in South Africa.Archives of sexual behavior · 2023Article
- Missed opportunity: low uptake of VMMC among men attending the OPD of a public health facility offering free VMMC services in Uganda.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Living with someone else's penis: The lived experiences of two South African penile allograft recipients: A descriptive phenomenological study.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2021Article
- Spatial distribution of traditional male circumcision and associated factors in Ethiopia; using multilevel generalized linear mixed effects model.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Current critiques of the WHO policy on female genital mutilation.International journal of impotence research · 2021Review
- Staged penile reconstruction with pedicled groin flap for penile shaft necrosis following circumcision.BMJ case reports · 2021Article
- Mapping male circumcision for HIV prevention efforts in sub-Saharan Africa.BMC medicine · 2020Article
- Minimally invasive, sutureless, adolescent male circumcision with topical anesthetic: a field trial of Unicirc, a single-use surgical instrument.Translational andrology and urology · 2020Article
- The Penile Microbiota in Uncircumcised and Circumcised Men: Relationships With HIV and Human Papillomavirus Infections and Cervicovaginal Microbiota.Frontiers in medicine · 2020Review
- Incorporating Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Into Traditional Circumcision Contexts: Experiences of a Local Consortium in Zimbabwe Collaborating With an Ethnic Group.Global health, science and practice · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveto systematically review studies on the prevalence and complications of traditional male circumcision (i.e. circumcision by a traditional provider with no formal medical training), whose coverage and safety are unclear.
methodswe systematically searched databases and reports for studies on the prevalence and complications of traditional male circumcision in youth 10-24 years of age in eastern and southern Africa, and also determined the ages at which traditional circumcision is most frequently performed.
findingssix studies reported the prevalence of traditional male circumcision, which had been practised in 25-90% of all circumcised male study participants. Most circumcisions were performed in boys 13-20 years of age. Only two of the six studies on complications reported overall complication rates (35% and 48%) following traditional male circumcision. The most common complications were infection, incomplete circumcision requiring re-circumcision and delayed wound healing. Infection was the most frequent cause of hospitalization. Mortality related to traditional male circumcision was 0.2%.
conclusionpublished studies on traditional male circumcision in eastern and southern Africa are limited; thus, it is not possible to accurately assess the prevalence of complications following the procedure or the impact of different traditional practices on subsequent adverse events. Also, differences in research methods and the absence of a standard reporting format for complications make it difficult to compare studies. Research into traditional male circumcision procedures, practices and complication rates using standardized reporting formats is needed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.