Short abstract
Patients may manage to see their medical records, but do they understand^M the abbreviations? Here is a guide to some of the most commonly used ones.
A&W —alive and well
BID —brought in dead
bid —twice a day
BO —bowels obstruction
CO —castor oil, or carbon monoxide
CVA —cerebrovascular incident (stroke)
D —diagnosis
Dx —diagnosis
DOA —dead on arrival
FBC —full blood count
Hco —history of present complaint
ISQ —in status quo (no change)
MA —mental age
mane —in the morning
MI —myocardial infarction (heart attack)
N&V —nausea and vomiting
NAD —nothing abnormal detected
NBM —nil by mouth
P —pulse rate
PCO —patient complains of
PO —per or (by mouth)
PR —per rectum
PV —per vagina
S/B —seen by
SCAN —suspected child abuse or neglect
SOB —shortness of breath
TATT —tired all the time
3/52 —in three weeks' time
TOP —termination of pregnancy
TTA —to take away