list of medical abbreviations list of medical abbreviations abbreviations are used very frequently in medicine. they boost efficiency as long as they are used intelligently. the advantages of brevity should be weighed against the possibilities of obfuscation (making the communication harder for others to understand) and ambiguity (having more than one possible interpretation). certain medical abbreviations are avoided to prevent mistakes, according to best practices (and in some cases regulatory requirements); these are flagged in the list of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions. medical abbreviations 0–9 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z latin abbreviations prescription abbreviations acronyms in healthcare abbreviations for medical organisations and personnel abbreviations for diseases and disorders orthographic styling periods (stops) periods (stops) are often used in styling abbreviations. prevalent practice in medicine today is often to forgo them as unnecessary. example: less common: the diagnosis was c.o.p.d. more common: the diagnosis was copd plurals the prevalent way to represent plurals for medical acronyms and initialisms is simply to affix a lowercase s (no apostrophe). example: one ocp, two ocps . possessives possessive forms are not often needed, but can be formed using apostrophe + s. often the writer can also recast the sentence to avoid it. example: bp's effect on risk of mi is multifaceted. the effect of bp on mi risk is multifaceted. arrows arrows may be used to indicate numerous conditions including elevation (↑), diminution (↓), and causation (→, ←). pronunciation pronunciation follows convention outside the medical field, in which acronyms are generally pronounced as if they were a word (jama, sids), initialisms are generally pronounced as individual letters (dna, ssri), and abbreviations generally use the expansion (soln. = "solution", sup. = "superior"). abbreviations of weights and measures are pronounced using the expansion of the unit (mg = "milligram") and chemical symbols using the chemical expansion (nacl = "sodium chloride"). some initialisms deriving from latin may be pronounced either as letters (qid = "cue eye dee") or using the english expansion (qid = "four times a day"). some common medical abbreviations notation conventions this series of lists omits periods from acronyms and initialisms. it uses periods for certain abbreviations that traditionally often have them (mostly older latin/neo-latin abbreviations). for example, both bid and b.i.d. may be found in the list. it generally uses the singular form of an abbreviation (not the plural) as the headword. this list uses significant capitalization for headwords (the abbreviations) and their expansions. eg abb eg full name other(ver change, need to know...etc.) abg arterial blood gas ace angiotensin-converting enzyme acth adrenocorticotropic hormone afvss afebrile, vital signs stable adh antidiuretic hormone aed automated external defibrillator aids acquired immunodeficiency syndrome alp alkaline phosphatase alt alanine aminotransferase old version is sgpt asa acetylsalicylic acid aspirin ast aspartate aminotransferase old version is sgot atp adenosine triphosphate bcg bacille calmette-guérin bd, bid 2 times a day biba brought in by ambulance bibp, bibpd brought in by police bls basic life support bmr basal metabolic rate bp blood pressure bpad bipolar affective disorder bpd borderline personality disorder often incorrectly used for bipolar disorder (bpad is preferred) bsa body surface area br bedside rounds bun blood urea nitrogen c celsius; centigrade; complement ca calcium camp, camp cyclic adenosine monophosphate cbc complete blood count cdc centers for disease control and prevention cgy centigray ci curie ck creatine kinase cl chloride; chlorine cm centimeter(s)/centimetre(s) cns central nervous system co2 carbon dioxide copd chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cpk creatine phosphokinase cpk-mb creatine phosphokinase muscle bandisoenzyme cpr cardiopulmonary resuscitation csf cerebrospinal fluid ct computed tomography cu cubic d & c dilation and curettage dl deciliter(s)/decilitre(s) 1 dl = 100 ml dna deoxyribonucleic acid dtp diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis(toxoids/vaccine) d/w dextrose in water ecf extracellular fluid ecg electrocardiogram eeg electroencephalogram egd esophagogastroduodenoscopy ent ear nose and throat ercp endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography esr erythrocyte sedimentation rate f fahrenheit fda u.s. food and drug administration ft foot; feet measure unit fuo fever of unknown origin g, g gram(s) gfr glomerular filtration rate gi gastrointestinal gvhd graft-versus-host disease g6pd glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase gu genitourinary gy gray h, h, hr hour(s) '/24' is generally used in some regions. hb hemoglobin hcl hydrochloric acid; hydrochloride hco3 bicarbonate hct hematocrit hg mercury hipaa health insurance portability and accountability act hiv human immunodeficiency virus hla human leukocyte antigen hmg-coa hydroxymethyl glutaryl coenzyme a hs at bedtime hz hertz cycles/second unit icf intracellular fluid icu intensive care unit iga etc. immunoglobulin a il interleukin im intramuscular(ly) inr international normalized ratio ippb intermittent positive pressure breathing iu international unit iv intravenous(ly) ivu intravenous urography k potassium kcal kilocalorie(s) mean food calorie kg kilogram(s) l liter(s)/litre(s) lb pound(s) ldh lactic dehydrogenase ldlc low-density lipoprotein cholesterol m molar m meter(s)/metre(s) mane in the morning mc micro- required in some regions to avoid the confusion of 'μ' with 'm' ('milli-'). mch mean corpuscular hemoglobin mchc mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration mci millicurie mcv mean corpuscular volume meq milliequivalent midi midday mg magnesium mg milligram(s) mi myocardial infarction mic minimum inhibitory concentration min(s) minute(s) '/60' is used in some regions. miu milli-international unit ml, ml milliliter(s)/millilitre(s) mm millimeter(s)/millimetre(s) mmol millimole(s) mo month '/12' is used in some regions. mol wt molecular weight mosm milliosmole(s) mri magnetic resonance imaging n nitrogen; normal unit to measure strength of solution na sodium nacl sodium chloride naeon no adverse events overnight ng nanogram billionth of a gram; also known as millimicrogram nm nanometer billionth of a meter; also known as millimicron nmol nanomole nocte at night npo nothing by mouth/nil by mouth nsaid nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug o2 oxygen otc over-the-counter pharmaceuticals oz ounce(s) p phosphorus; pressure paco2 alveolar carbon dioxide partial pressure paco2 arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure pao2 alveolar oxygen partial pressure pao2 arterial oxygen partial pressure pas periodic acid-schiff pco2 carbon dioxide partial pressure or tension pcr polymerase chain reaction pet positron emission tomography pg picogram(s) micromicrogram ph hydrogen ion concentration pmn polymorphonuclear leukocyte po orally po2 oxygen partial pressure or tension ppd purified protein derivative tuberculin ppm parts per million prn as needed from the latin pro re nata pt prothrombin time ptt partial thromboplastin time q every qid 4 times a day ra rheumatoid arthritis rbc red blood cell rna ribonucleic acid sao2 arterial oxygen saturation sbe subacute bacterial endocarditis sc subcutaneous(ly) s/e side-effect(s) si international system of units sids sudden infant death syndrome sle systemic lupus erythematosus soln solution sp species singular spp species plural sp gr specific gravity sq square ssri selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor sts serologic test(s) for syphilis t&a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy tb tuberculosis tds 3 times a day tid preferred in some regions tibc total iron-binding capacity tid 3 times a day tds preferred in some regions tpn total parenteral nutrition uri upper respiratory infection urti upper respiratory tract infection uti urinary tract infection wbc white blood cell who world health organization wr ward round wt weight μ micro-; micron μci microcurie μg microgram(s) μl microliter(s)/microlitre(s) μm micrometer(s)/micrometre(s) also referred to as microns μmol micromole(s) μosm micro-osmole(s) mμ millimicron(s) also referred to as nanometers/nanometres