A technique for urethral meatal dilatation using a commonly found piece of medical equipment

Urethral meatal stenosis in adults may present as acute urinary retention and options in the emergency setting are limited to insertion of a suprapubic catheter (with associated 1-2% mortality¹) or meatal dilatation under local anaesthetic. Although specific equipment for meatal dilatation is available, this may be difficult to access in hospital wards or in the emergency department.

We propose the use of a well-lubricated, tapered, nasogastric spigot (Fig 1), for gentle meatal dilatation in a progressive fashion under local anaesthetic, thereby allowing the passage of a urinary catheter. This is a well-tolerated and comparatively atraumatic solution to a relatively common problem.

Figure 1.

An example of a tapered nasogastric tube spigot