MT Training > Abbreviations

Abbreviations have been widely used in medicine, but confusion often results because they may mean more than one thing. For instance “AP” could stand for anteroposterior, aortic pressure, aortic pressure, aortic pulmonary, etc. standards do not exist in any reasonable sense.

In transcription, the most acceptable use of abbreviations is to transcribe what the dictator says: if he/she says “RLQ” instead of “right lower quadrant,” you’d put RLQ. If he/she says “right lower quadrant,” that’s what you’d use. In medical correspondence, it is generally more proper to write out the word than to abbreviate it. Occasionally, a dictator will state an abbreviation which is so unusual nobody knows what it is. In that event, just listen or check dictionary resources to try to get the correct letters.

Several books are available just on abbreviations, one with a listing of over 12,000 of them. Since our business required a standard, we finally compiled a list, which is, we believe, the best around. The listing includes, for the most part, the most commonly used abbreviations though we are not recommending their use necessarily. If the abbreviated form has more than one meaning, we have placed an asterisk for the preferred use. At times, the only way one can tell the appropriate use is how the abbreviation was used in context. If, for instance, one is transcribing an exam and the speaker notes muscle tone and uses the word “quad,” you know he/she means “quadriceps”; however, if the exam notes the patient has paralysis or loss of function, the clue is the patient is a “quad” for “quadriplegic.”

 ABBREVIATION                             MEANING

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