Common Abbreviations for the Patient Note
Note: This is not intended to be a complete list of acceptable abbreviations, but rather represents the types of common abbreviations that may be used on the patient note. There is no need to use abbreviations on the patient note; if you are in doubt about the correct abbreviation, write it out.
- yo
- m
- f
- b
- w
- L
- R
- hx
- h/o
- c/o
- NL
- WNL
- Ø
- +
- -
- Abd
- AIDS
- AP
- BUN
- CABG
- CBC
- CCU
- cig
- CHF
- COPD
- CPR
- CT
- CVA
- CVP
- CXR
- DM
- DTR
- ECG
- ED
- EMT
- ENT
- EOM
- ETOH
- Ext
- FH
- GI
- GU
- HEENT
- HIV
- HTN
- IM
- IV
- JVD
- KUB
- LMP
- LP
- MI
- MRI
- MVA
- Neuro
- NIDDM
- NKA
- NKDA
- NSR
- PA
- PERLA
- po
- PT
- PTT
- RBC
- SH
- TIA
- U/A
- URI
- WBC
- year-old
- male
- female
- black
- white
- left
- right
- history
- history of
- complaining of
- normal limits
- within normal limits
- without or no
- positive
- negative
- abdomen
- acquired immune deficiency syndrome
- anteroposterior
- blood urea nitrogen
- coronary artery bypass grafting
- complete blood count
- cardiac care unit
- cigarettes
- congestive heart failure
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- cardiopulmonary resuscitation
- computed tomography
- cerebrovascular accident
- central venous pressure
- chest x-ray
- diabetes mellitus
- deep tendon reflexes
- electrocardiogram
- emergency department
- emergency medical technician
- ears, nose, and throat
- extraocular muscles
- alcohol
- extremities
- family history
- gastrointestinal
- genitourinary
- head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat
- human immunodeficiency virus
- hypertension
- intramuscularly
- intravenously
- jugular venous distention
- kidney, ureter, and bladder
- last menstrual period
- lumbar puncture
- myocardial infarction
- magnetic resonance imaging
- motor vehicle accident
- neurologic
- non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
- no known allergies
- no known drug allergy
- normal sinus rhythm
- posteroanterior
- pupils equal, react to light and accommodation
- orally
- prothrombin time
- partial thromboplastin time
- red blood cells
- social history
- transient ischemic attack
- urinalysis
- upper respiratory tract infection
- white blood cells