circs in the USA often done without painkillers

[serendipity22]

The USA and Israel are the only countries in the world that circumcise a majority of their male infants.

In the USA circ is much more common than here.

Here over 80% of circs involve painkillers.

In the USA apparently up to about half of infant circs involve no painkillers at all.

(I am discounting the use of a sugar coated pacifier, which is sometimes touted as a painkiller)

The AAP recommend use of painkillers.

What is going on here?

[Hokey Pokey]

Do you mean painkillers as in after it is done.. panadol etc or do you mean a local anaesthetic?

[Beany]

I wonder if the stats are that way due to the larger Jewish population over there. As far as I know, there is no anaesthetic during a Bris Milah, the child usually sucks on a cloth doused in wine.

[PaperTiger]

I am discounting the use of a sugar coated pacifier, which is sometimes touted as a painkiller)
Yeah its amazing that this gets bandied around....ridiculous in the extreme.

Unfortuantely even with emla and PNB's there is still pain and trauma involved, reduced yes, but complete anaesthetic, no.
The only way to totally relieve the pain of the actual circumcision itself is general anaesthesia.
This is one of the reasons that it is moving out of the area of obstetrics and into general surgery, and why more and more public hopsitals are refusing to perform it outside of operating theatres. It is a surgical operation and no amount of 'sugar coating' can dispute that fact.

[serendipity22]

I was absolutely amazed to learn as recently as 1989, American doctors were doing things like open heart surgery on infants with absolutely no anaestethic at all.
A paralyzing poison like curare would be used and that was it.

One source is David Chamberlains

Babies don't feel pain (A century of denial in Medicine)
http://www.terrylarimore.com/BabiesAndPain.html

Until the 1980s American doctors "believed" infants didn't feel pain and this was (and in some cases is) their excuse for circing without painkillers. IMO they are deceiving themselves.

Something really whacky is going on there.