In circumstances where the frenulum of the penis is too short to allow for proper retraction of the foreskin during erection (a condition known as frenulum breve), a minor operation may be performed wherein the frenulum is surgically divided - often under local anaesthetic - permitting full retraction of the foreskin. A frenulum (or frenum) is a small fold of tissue that prevents an organ in the body from moving too far. ... The penis (plural penises or penes) or phallus is an external male sexual organ. ... The Male Anatomy The foreskin or prepuce is a retractable double-layered fold of skin and mucous membrane that covers the glans penis and protects the urinary meatus when the penis is not erect. ... An erection of the penis occurs when engorgement of venous blood in two tubular structures at the bottom of the penis, the corpora cavernosa, results from a variety of stimuli. ... Frenulum breve is the condition in which the frenulum preputii penis, which is an elastic band of tissue under the glans penis that connects to the prepuce (foreskin) and helps contract the prepuce over the glans, is short and restricts the movement of the prepuce. ... A local anesthetic is a drug that reversibly inhibits the propagation of signals along nerves. ...

The divided frenulum is repaired with absorbable sutures, which fall out in approximately 10 days - and the patient is usually put on a short course of analgesics to deal with the short lived discomfort. A wound before and after being closed by sutures Sutures are the stitches doctors, and especially surgeons, use to hold skin, internal organs, blood vessels and all other tissues of the human body together, after they have been severed by injury or surgery. ...

For suitable candidates, a circumcision is thus avoided - and normal retraction of the foreskin is subsequently possible. Circumcision is the removal of some or all of the foreskin (prepuce) from the penis. ...