Where should you clean during catheter care?

• A. Around the meatus
• B. Around the abdomen
• C. Around the thigh
• D. Inside the catheter lumen

Answer: (A)

The key idea is to reduce bacteria at the entry point where the catheter meets the body. Cleaning around the meatus—the urethral opening—is the correct focus because bacteria enter most easily there and can travel along the catheter into the bladder. When performing care, you cleanse the skin around the opening gently, following your facility’s hygiene procedure, and you clean toward the catheter but never inside the catheter lumen. Cleaning around the abdomen or thigh does not address the infection risk at the entry point, and cleaning inside the lumen is not part of routine care and can introduce infection or damage the catheter.