La circumcision is a surgical act which consists ofremoval of the foreskin, the skin that naturally covers the glans on penis.

The ablation can be partial or total, and has the consequence of leaving the glans uncovered. When performed for medical reasons, it is referred to as posthectomie.

Circumcision is considered to be the oldest and most widely performed surgical procedure in the world: around 30% of men over the age of 15 are circumcised globally.

Circumcision can be performed for religious, cultural or medical reasons:

• religious motives : circumcision is performed in the Jewish and Muslim religions (generally between 3 and 8 years old for Muslims, a few days after birth for Jews)
• hygienic and cultural reasons : circumcision has long been (and still is) offered to parents of newborns for hygienic reasons in Anglo-Saxon countries (United States, Australia, Canada and Great Britain as well as in South Korea).
• medical grounds : circumcision may be necessary in case of phimosis, which occurs when the opening of the foreskin is too narrow to allow the glans to come out in the event of an erection (scaling is also impossible). This situation can lead to various complications, such as difficulty urinating, inflammation or infection of the glans or urethral meatus.