This report, the broadest of its kind, examined all hospital records in the state of Washington for a study period of more than nine years. The study finds there was a complication in one out of every 476 circumcisions.
Circumcision is a relatively safe procedure.
The study was published in a supplement to the January 2000 issue of Pediatrics, which is produced by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Last March, the American Academy of Pediatrics made headlines by announcing a new policy toward circumcision. The AAP said benefits are not significant enough for the AAP to recommend circumcision as a routine procedure. It called on doctors to provide parents with information on both benefits and risks. Christakis got the idea for the study from the parents of his patients.