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A keen knowledge of applicable anatomy is essential when performing any surgical procedure, even one as straightforward as circumcision. This chapter provides a review of the basic anatomy along with some helpful tips for those practitioners who perform newborn circumcision.

Body art has been practiced for millennia, the first recorded instances being during the Prehistoric era where natural pigments derived from soils and plant materials were used to decorate the skin. Whether this was performed for spiritual, tribal or purely decorative reasons is unknown, but the act remained popular over subsequent millennia. The methods of decoration have developed into traditions resulting in distinctive cultural identities. Recognition of the forms and methods may not only aid in the identification process of an unknown body but could also provide the investigator with information regarding possible ethnic origins or cultural identity of the deceased. It should be noted, however, that the spread of many such forms through fashion has often blurred these lines of distinction somewhat. Body art may be considered temporary, such as mehndi, semi-permanent, such as body piercing, or permanent, notably tattooing. The appearance at post-mortem examination is therefore dependent on the form of art employed.

The repair of the urethra once it has been affected by disease has always provided a challenge to urologists. Many procedures have been designed for urethral repair and have been in use for many years (Browne 1949; Nedelec and Auvigne 1966). Modifications of long-existing techniques and also their rediscovery still continue. The majority of these techniques use tissue from adjacent structures, scrotal or penile skin being the most commonly used grafts. The majority of reconstructive procedures were designed for the treatment of urethral strictures. As interest in urethral reconstruction has continued, innovative techniques are being tried in other situations in which urethral replacement is necessary, such as hypospadias, epispadias etc. Experience has shown that primary urethral reconstruction using homografts is associated with excellent functional results. The number of techniques for urethral reconstruction are as varied as their many authors: scrotal inlay (Turner- Warwick 1960), pedicled scrotal skin island patches (Blandy et al. 1968), pedicled prepucial island patches or tubes (Duckett 1981), free full-thickness and split-thickness skin grafts (Devine et al. 1963), tunica vaginalis testis (Kishev 1962) and bladder mucosal tube grafts (Memmelaar 1947; Thuroff et al. 1983) and endourethral split skin grafting (Gaur 1983) have all been successfully used for urethral reconstruction.