Abbreviations in physiotherapy

Original Editor - Ruairi O'Donohoe

Top Contributors - Garima Gedamkar, Ruairi O'Donohoe, Rewan Elsayed Elkanafany, Karen Wilson, Kim Jackson, Ewa Jaraczewska, Lauren Heydenrych, Scott Buxton, Aminat Abolade, Venkata Nagaraj Mummadisetty, Leana Louw and Lucinda hampton  

Description

Abbreviations assist healthcare professionals to make effective use of their time. These abbreviations should be recognised and agreed upon in order to ensure best practice.

The following Abbreviations are taken from the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) Code of Practice for Healthcare Records Management Version 2.  and from wikipedia .

Abbreviations:

Units:

Centimeter	cm
Gram	g
Kilocalorie	kcal
Kilogram	Kg
Litre	L
Milligram	mg
Millilitre	ml
Millimetre	mm
Millimole	Mmol

Frequency and time:

b.d./b.i.d.	Twice daily
Mane	In the morning
Nocte	At night
p.r.n.	When required
q.d.s./q.i.d.	Four times daily
STAT	Immediately
Tarde	In the evening
t.d.s./t.i.d.	Three times daily
h	Hour
Mins.	Minute
s	Second	x/52	x weeks
x/12	x Months

Routes of Administration

IV	Intravenously
IM	Intramuscularly
NG	Nasogastric
PEG	Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrotomy
PO	Per Oral (oral by mouth)
PV	Per vaginal
SC	Subcutaneously
PR	Per Rectum
SL	Sublingually

Never abbreviate

Patient's resuscitation status
Drug names
Right OR Left	Except when used as part of an approved abbreviation
+++, >, <	Avoided unless used as part of an official grading system
+ve, -ve	Can use Pos. and Neg. instead
Patient/Service users name
No abbreviations on a consent form
No abbreviations on an incident report

#

5Ds	Dizziness, diplopia, drop attacks, dysorthria, dysphagia
9HPT	Nine Hole

A

ABBREVIATION	DEFINITION
A&A	Aids and Appliances
AAA	Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

ABG- Arterial blood gas
ACL – anterior cruciate ligament
ACTH – adrenocorticotropic hormone
ADL – activities of daily living
AFO – ankle foot orthosis
AIDS – acquired immune deficiency syndrome
ASIS- Anterior superior iliacspine
AJ – ankle jerk
AK – above knee
ALS – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

ANS – autonomic nervous system
AMA – against medical advice
Ant. – anterior
AP – anterior-posterior
AAV AIDS-associated virus
AAL Anterior axillary line
Ab Antibody
AB Apex beat
ACE Angiotensin converting enzyme
Add Adduction (physio)
Abd Abduction (physio)
ACS Acute coronary syndrome
ADH Anti-diuretic hormone
ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
AF Atrial fibrillation
AFB Acid fast bacilli

B

BE – below elbow

BK – below knee
BOS – base of support
BP – blood pressure
bpm – beats per minute

L

LCL	Lateral Collateral Ligament

M

MCL	Medial Collateral Ligament

N

NBM	Nil By Mouth

R

ROM	Range Of Movement

S

SA Node

Sinoatrial Node

V

VAS	Visual Analogue Scale

W

WZF	Wheeled Zimmer Frame

Z

ZF	Zimmer Frame