Medical abbreviations

Medical abbreviations A to Z

634 abbreviations used in charts, prescriptions, and claims. Every meaning matched at least two public references. 58 are sig codes; 7 are on the Joint Commission Do Not Use list.

References downloaded and checked October 23, 2026. Sig codes · Do Not Use list

Run it in Rivvi

Expand every abbreviation in a note or sig line

Paste the text and Rivvi spells out each abbreviation and flags the ones on the Do Not Use list.

Ask Rivvi

Free to start. No card. Opens Rivvi, the AI workspace for healthcare teams.

Most searched

A to Z

A

C

D

E

G

H

J

JVDjugular venous distention

K

M

P

Q

S

U

V

W

Do Not Use and error-prone abbreviations

The Joint Commission requires accredited organizations to keep these off medication orders. ISMP lists more that have caused harmful errors. Each page names what ISMP suggests writing instead.

Joint Commission Do Not Use list

IUWrite "units"
MSWrite the full drug name
QDWrite "daily"
QODWrite "every other day"
UWrite "unit" or "units"
MGSO4Write the full drug name
MSO4Write the full drug name

ISMP error-prone list

APAPWrite the full drug name
CCFor volume
D/CWrite "discharge" or "discontinue"
ODWrite "right eye" or "daily"
OSWrite "left eye"
OUWrite "each eye"
SUBQWrite "SUBQ" or "subcutaneous"
ADWrite "right ear"
AZTWrite the full drug name
GRUse the metric system
HCTWrite the full drug name
HCTZWrite the full drug name
INWrite "intranasal"
ITWrite "intrathecal"
MINminute
MTXWrite the full drug name
OZUse the metric system
PCAWrite the full drug name
PTUWrite the full drug name
QNWrite "nightly" or "at bedtime"
TBSPUse the metric system (mL)
TIWWrite "3 times weekly"
TPAWrite the full drug name
TSPUse the metric system (mL)
TXAWrite the full drug name
UDWrite "as directed"
ZNSO4Write the full drug name

Related references

Questions

How were these meanings checked?

Each meaning on this list matched at least two public references, such as MedlinePlus, the NCI Thesaurus, the NLM SPECIALIST Lexicon, FDA and CMS acronym lists, HL7 terminology, and Army Regulation 40-66. Meanings that matched only one were left off. 634 abbreviations passed.

What is the Joint Commission Do Not Use list?

It is a short list of abbreviations and dose expressions that accredited organizations must not use in medication orders, such as U for unit, IU, QD, QOD, MS, MSO4, MgSO4, a trailing zero, and a missing leading zero.

What are sig codes?

Sig codes are the abbreviations in a prescription's directions, the part that starts with Sig (signa, Latin for 'label'). BID, TID, PRN, PO, and QHS are examples. The sig codes page lists them by frequency, timing, route, and form.