{"title":"Ritual male circumcision: a case of fatal hemorrhagic shock in a 28-day-old infant.","authors":"I Caristo, F Caputo, R Barranco, F Ventura","doi":"10.7417/CT.2024.5104","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Male circumcision (MC) is a practice involving the surgical excision of the foreskin to expose the glans and it is often performed for religious reasons. Ritual circumcision is frequently carried out by unqualified practitioners in inadequate settings, which can also lead to the death of the individual.</p><p><strong>Case report: </strong>A 28-day-old infant was undergoing circumcision by a man that performed the circumcision using a razor blade. During the same day, the child experienced continuous bleeding from the wound and, finally, died after about 20 hours. At autopsy, a cutaneous sharp injury was revealed with ablation of the foreskin and part of the penile body. The lesion had irregular and jagged margins, with diffuse hemorrhagic infiltration. The glans and upper fascia of the penis appeared edematous and hyperemic and there were abundant hemorrhagic infiltrations in the frenulum area. The child's death was attributed to hemorrhagic shock in a child undergoing genital mutilation surgery. The finding of a significant hemorrhagic infiltration of the frenulum region indicated that the frenular artery had been severed.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Around 35% of ritual male circumcisions are performed clandestinely in Italy, and typically by unqualified practitioners. In such events, the forensic investigation of the injuries inflicted on the victim allows for determining whether the procedure was performed appropriately or not, to verify the existence of a causal link between the procedure itself and the death of the individual.</p>","PeriodicalId":50686,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Terapeutica","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinica Terapeutica","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.7417/CT.2024.5104","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Male circumcision (MC) is a practice involving the surgical excision of the foreskin to expose the glans and it is often performed for religious reasons. Ritual circumcision is frequently carried out by unqualified practitioners in inadequate settings, which can also lead to the death of the individual.
Case report: A 28-day-old infant was undergoing circumcision by a man that performed the circumcision using a razor blade. During the same day, the child experienced continuous bleeding from the wound and, finally, died after about 20 hours. At autopsy, a cutaneous sharp injury was revealed with ablation of the foreskin and part of the penile body. The lesion had irregular and jagged margins, with diffuse hemorrhagic infiltration. The glans and upper fascia of the penis appeared edematous and hyperemic and there were abundant hemorrhagic infiltrations in the frenulum area. The child's death was attributed to hemorrhagic shock in a child undergoing genital mutilation surgery. The finding of a significant hemorrhagic infiltration of the frenulum region indicated that the frenular artery had been severed.
Conclusions: Around 35% of ritual male circumcisions are performed clandestinely in Italy, and typically by unqualified practitioners. In such events, the forensic investigation of the injuries inflicted on the victim allows for determining whether the procedure was performed appropriately or not, to verify the existence of a causal link between the procedure itself and the death of the individual.
期刊介绍:
La Clinica Terapeutica è una rivista di Clinica e Terapia in Medicina e Chirurgia, fondata nel 1951 dal Prof. Mariano Messini (1901-1980), Direttore dell''Istituto di Idrologia Medica dell''Università di Roma “La Sapienza”. La rivista è pubblicata come “periodico bimestrale” dalla Società Editrice Universo, casa editrice fondata nel 1945 dal Comm. Luigi Pellino. La Clinica Terapeutica è indicizzata su MEDLINE, INDEX MEDICUS, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica.