All infants suffer during and after the procedure.
There are risks from anesthesia and there are risks if anesthesia is not used. If a baby is left intact, he is not subjected to any of these risks. DPNB - Dorsal Penile Nerve Block is more effective than EMLA but DPNB does not block the ventral nerve pain pathways so it is only partially effective. The infant still feels pain when DPNB is used. Lander et al reported that ring block is more effective than either EMLA or DPNB for control of circumcision pain.