Care setting or organization

ICU medical abbreviation

ICU means "intensive care unit".

Each meaning matched at least two public references (5 in all for ICU), checked October 23, 2026. The table lists them.

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What ICU means

Example

Sample note: "transferred to the ICU."

A made-up line that shows the abbreviation in place. It is not about any patient and is not an instruction.

Related abbreviations

  • CCUcoronary care unit
  • NICUneonatal intensive care unit
  • MICUmedical intensive care unit
  • EDemergency department
  • CDCCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
  • FDAFood and Drug Administration

Elsewhere on Rivvi

Questions

What does ICU mean in medical terms?

ICU means "intensive care unit".

Where is ICU used?

ICU shows up in billing and charting. Its category here is care setting or organization.

Is ICU on the Joint Commission Do Not Use list?

No. ICU is not on the Joint Commission Do Not Use list or the ISMP error-prone list as checked on October 23, 2026.

Source: MedlinePlus Appendix B: Some Common Abbreviations (NLM); NCI Thesaurus, including CDISC SDTM terminology (NCI EVS); NLM SPECIALIST Lexicon abbreviations file (LRABR); FDA Acronyms and Abbreviations; Army Regulation 40-66, Appendix B: Authorized Medical Records Abbreviations. Data as of October 23, 2026. Last updated October 23, 2026. How we source data. Spotted an error? Send a correction.

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