What it means
A natural opening or channel. The urinary meatus is where urine leaves the body, at the tip of the penis or just above the vaginal opening. The external auditory meatus is the ear canal.
For the nurse
Find and clean the urinary meatus before inserting a urinary catheter, and clean around it during catheter care. Clean from the meatus outward. Meatal care is cleaning where a urinary catheter enters the body, wiping away from the opening.
In a chart
"Urinary meatus clean, no redness or drainage around catheter."
At a glance
| Spanish | meato |
|---|---|
| Also written | meatal |
Related terms
indwelling urinary catheter
A tube passed through the urethra into the bladder and left in place to drain urine into a bag.
urethra
The tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body.
auricle
The outer part of the ear that you can see, on the side of the head.