There are a number of different ways to perform a circumcision. These include the Plasti-Bell procedure, and the use of various clamps and shields to crush and cut the foreskin and protect the head of the penis at the same time.
The way we perform our circumcision is we separate the foreskin from the head of the penis with an artery forceps and retract it to expose the entire head in order to check it and ensure that there is no hypospadias. Then the foreskin is folded back across the head, stretched and crushed with special forceps that reduce bleeding and protect the head of the penis. The excess skin is excised and the residual skin returned to its position beneath the head of the penis.
This technique is our preferred one because it achieves a clean-cut edge, controls bleeding very well with a very low rate of infection (in fact we have never encountered one) and the short time it takes to perform minimizing the infant discomfort.
The procedure takes less than 60 seconds, and then the dressings are applied at the site of the wound and the child returned to the parents for feeding and settling.