Medical abbreviations play a very critical role, especially for the medical ID items such as tags, medical ID alert bracelets and medical ID plaques. All of these medical ID items differ from each other in multiple ways. Some are made differently, some appear differently.
However, one thing that is common to all of these is- they are crisp and brief. This is where the role of medical ID abbreviations come into play.
While making any medical ID gear, it is important to utilize the given space judiciously so that you can be optimally communicative and share all the vital information as needed.
Purpose of Medical ID Gears and Information it Should Include
Since there is always a high demand of patients in hospitals vis-à-vis the lesser supply of responders, the medical ID gears are made for faster service. The medical responders are trained to look for a medical ID and deliver the required treatment in the effective and efficient manner. In a medical emergency situation, such as sudden unconsciousness or inability to speak or communicate, it is your medical ID which speaks on your behalf.
A medical ID gear comprises of the following pieces of information:
-
Name and address of the patient
: A medical ID gear comprises of the name of the patient along with the address as this helps in faster recognition for the treatment. -
Medical condition of the patient
: This is one of the most crucial information pieces that is present on the medical ID of the patient. This plays a very critical role in helping the emergency responder with the kind of treatment to be given to the patient. Hence, it is important that it is written with utmost care and precision. This should also include what the patient is allergic to. -
Medications to be given
: This is the most important aspect of the medical ID and needs to be written with the accuracy. If this goes wrong, there could a huge danger hovering on the patient’s life. Hence, for the right treatment from the doctor/medical responder, it is important that this is taken care of well.
In order to fulfil all the above-mentioned requirements and create the perfect medical ID gear, you need to be well versed with all the abbreviations that are used in the medical world. To help you better with this, we have compiled a list of all such abbreviations that you may have to use. Here follows the list:
Abdomen/abdominal - Abd
Abdominal aortic aneurysm - AAA
Above knee amputation - AKA
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome - AIDS
Acute myocardial infarction- AMI
Adult respiratory distress syndrome - ARDS
Advanced Cardiac Life Support - ACLS
Advanced Life Support- ALS
Allergic to - No
Ampule - amp
Anterior- ant
Arteriosclerotic heart disease - ASHD
As soon as possible - ASAP
Aspirin - ASA
Atrial fibrillation - A-fib
Atrioventricular - AV
Automated external defibrillator- AED
Axillary- ax
Basic life support-BLS
Below knee amputation- BKA
Bicarbonate- HCO3
Bilateral- B/L
Blood pressure- BP
Both ears- AU
Both eyes- OU
By mouth- p.o.
Cancer- CA
Carbon dioxide- CO2
Carbon monoxide- CO
Cardiac catheterization C-cath
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation- CPR
Cardiovascular- CV
Chest x-ray- CXR
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease- COPD
Chronic renal failure- CRF
Congestive heart failure- CHF
Coronary artery bypass graft- CABG
Coronary artery disease- CAD
Decubitus ulcer- decub
Deep vein thrombosis- DVT
Defibrillate / defibrillation - defib
Delirium tremens- DTs
Dextrose 5% in water- D5W
Dextrose 50% in water- D50W
Dextrose stick- d/s or d/stick
Diabetes mellitus- DM
Diabetic ketoacidosis- DKA
Diagnosis- Dx/diag
Discontinue- D/C
Do not resuscitate - DNR
Electrolytes m - meter lytes
Endotracheal - ET
Endotracheal tube- ETT
Epinephrine - Epi
Epinephrine pen- EpiPen
Every- q
Every hour- qh
Fibromyalgia- FMA
Flexion- flex
Foot- ft
Forearm- FA
Foreign body- FB
Four times daily- QID
Fracture- Fx
Gastroesophageal- GE
Gastroesophageal reflux disease- GERD
Gastrointestinal- GI
Gastrostomy tube- G-tube
Genitourinary- GU
Gonococcus- GC
Gynecology- Gyn
Hematocrit- Hct
Hemoglobin- Hgb
Hepatitis B Virus- HBV
history- Hx
High Blood Pressure-HBP
Human Immunodeficiency Virus- HIV
hydrogen peroxide- H202
hypertension- HTN
index finger- IF
inferior- inf
Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus- IDDM
intramuscular- IM
intraosseous - IO
intravenous - IV
iron- Fe
irregular- irreg
irrigation- irrig
jejunostomy tube- J-tube
joint- jt
jugular vein distension- JVD
keep vein open- KVO
large - lg
lateral- lat
left- L
left ear- AS
left eye- OS
left lower lobe - LLL
left lower quadrant- LLQ
left upper lobe - LUL
left upper quadrant- LUQ
left ventricle- LV
left ventricular hypertrophy- LVH
lidocaine - lido
liquid- liq
lumbosacral- LS
magnesium - Mg
Magnetic Resonance Imaging- MRI
maximum- Max
medications- meds
methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus- MRSA
microgram - mcg
milligram- mg
mitral valve prolapsed- MVP
moderate - Mod
morphine sulfate - MS
multiple sclerosis- MS
myocardial infarction- MI
nasal cannula- NC
nasogastric - NG
nitroglycerin- NTG
no known allergies- NKA
no known drug allergies- NKDA
non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitis- NIDDM
normal sinus rhythm- NSR
not applicable- NA
nothing by mouth- npo
nursing home- NH organic brain syndrome- OBS
oxygen- O2
paroxismal supraventricular tachycardia- PSVT
paroxysmal atrial tachycardia- PAT
Penicillin-PCN
peptic ulcer disease - PUD
percent oxygen saturation- SpO2
posterior - post
premature atrial contraction - PAC
premature ventricular contraction- PVC
pulmonary edema - Pulm Ed
regular- reg
respiration- resp
right R
right ear - AD
right eye- OD
right lower lobe- RLL
right lower quadrant- RLQ
right middle lobe- RML
right upper lobe- RUL
right upper quadrant- RUQ
small- sm
sodium- Na
sodium bicarbonate- NAHCO3
spontaneous - spont.
supraventricular tachycardia SVT
tablet - tab
teaspoon - tsp
temporo mandibilar joint- TMJ
tetracycline- TCN
three times a day - tid
to keep open - TKO
tracheal/tracheostomy - trach
treatment - Tx
tuberculosis-- TB
twice daily bid
ultra-high frequency - UHF
upper gastrointestinal- UGI
upper respiratory infection- URI
urinary tract infection- UTI
ventilator- vent
ventricular fibrillation- V-fib
ventricular tachycardia- VT/V tach
very-high frequency - VHF
water - H20
There is no denial to the fact how important medical ID abbreviations are and what role they play in the right treatment of the patient. We hope the list helps you in understanding the right abbreviations. At times, there could be confusion about some common abbreviations. Should such a situation arise, we suggest you double check online or check with an expert.