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This is a list of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions, including hospital orders (the patient-directed part of which is referred to as sig codes).This list does not include abbreviations for pharmaceuticals or drug name suffixes such as CD, CR, ER, XT (See Time release technology § List of abbreviations for those).
The main discussion of these abbreviations in the context of drug prescriptions and other medical prescriptions is at List of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions. Some of these abbreviations are best not used, as marked and explained here.
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").
The symbol "℞", sometimes transliterated as "R x" or "Rx", is recorded in 16th century manuscripts as an abbreviation of the late Latin instruction recipe, meaning 'receive'. [1] [a] Originally abbreviated Rc, the later convention of using a slash to indicate abbreviation resulted in an R with a straight stroke through its right "leg".
Abbreviation Meaning q: each, every (from Latin quaque) q15: every 15 minutes q6h q6° once every 6 hours q2wk: once every 2 weeks qAc Before every meal (from Latin quaque ante cibum) q.a.d. every other day (from Latin quaque altera die) QALY: quality-adjusted life year: q.AM: every day before noon (from Latin quaque die ante meridiem) q.d.
Abbreviation Meaning Nφ: Neutrophil: Na: sodium (from Latin natrium) NA: negative appendectomy NAAT: Nucleic Acid Amplification Test: NABS: normoactive bowel sounds NAC: n-acetyl cysteine NaCl sodium chloride (saline) NAD: no abnormality detected no apparent distress no appreciable disease (and many variations of the above) NAD + nicotinamide ...
Use of abbreviations, such as those relating to the route of administration or dose of a medication, can be confusing and is the most common source of medication errors. [2] Use of some acronyms has been shown to impact the safety of patients in hospitals, and "do not use lists" have been published at a national level in the US. [4]
Abbreviation Meaning s̅: without (s with an overbar) (from Latin sine) S: sacrum: S x: symptoms surgery (though deemed by some as inappropriate) S 1: first heart sound: S 2: second heart sound: S 3: third heart sound S 4: fourth heart sound S&O: salpingo-oophorectomy Sb: Scholar batch SAAG: serum–ascites albumin gradient SAB: staphylococcal ...