Specific Medicare items are required to fund revision surgery on male circumcisions gone wrong, an MBS review committee says.

But exactly how many revisions and to what extent they are being performed in Australia is largely unknown, the review’s paediatric surgery advisory group says.

The committee estimated around 22,000 circumcisions were performed in 2017/18 under Medicare items 38654 and 38658.

The majority (74%) were performed outside of hospitals, including nearly 60% by GPs claiming item 30654.