Correlations were done with Spearman's method. No significant differences were found between circumcised and uncircumcised infants in demographic characteristics. No significant differences were observed in the pain responses of the placebo-treated infants. They did not not differ, however, in other demographic characteristics, or in pain scores and cry duration for the first vaccine. No significant associations were found.
Male circumcision is the most common neonatal surgical procedure.
It causes intense pain and measurable changes in behaviour that last up to 1 day. We found that circumcision status was associated with increased infant pain response to routine vaccination at 4-6 months. Circumcised boys had significantly longer crying bouts and higher pain scores. That both outcome measures, pain index, and cry duration, were influenced by circumcision lends credibility to our observations. The DPT injection might have had a priming effect in circumcised infants which led them to exhibit even more pain after the HIB injection.