Table 2. Practices and adverse events directly observed from medical and traditional circumcisions performed in Bungoma district, Kenya, July–August, 2004.

Description of event	Medical (N = 12)			Traditional (N = 12)
	(n)	(%)		(n)	(%)
Use of general anaesthesia	2	17		0	0
Use of local anaesthesia	10	83		0	0
Sutures used	9	75		0	0
Sutures widely spaced with oedema	5	56		n/a	n/a
Sutures broken	5	56		n/a	n/a
Infection requiring antibiotics	6	50		5	42
Wound not healed at 30 days	12	100		12	100
Torsion	2	17		0	0
Profuse bleeding requiring IV fluids	1	8		0	0
Incomplete foreskin removed	2	17		5	42
Required recircumcision	2	17		4	33
Wound > 3 cm corona to cut line	3	25		4	33
Jagged cut line/skin not uniform	2	17		3	25
Haematoma requiring surgery	1	8		0	0
No sensitivity corona to cut line	4	33		3	25
Loss of erectile function at 3 months	0	0		3	25
Required hospitalization	1	8		0	0
Permanent adverse sequelaea	3	25		4	33
No adverse event	1	8		2	16

n/a, not applicable.
^a Any event directly related to circumcision that results in a disability likely to last for years or a lifetime, including torsion, mutilation of the glans, excessive scarring causing loss of penile sensitivity, and erectile dysfunction.