July 2025
by Amanda M. Shelby, RVT, VTS (Anesthesia & Analgesia), VETgirl Senior CE Specialist

In this VETgirl online veterinary continuing education blog, Amanda M. Shelby, RVT, VTS (Anesthesia & Analgesia) chats about the impact of using abbreviations in medical language between colleagues within a veterinary hospital, between veterinary professionals of different facilities, and between veterinary professionals and pet owners and their use in use in medical records. Abbreviations are great when everyone understands their meaning, but in medical communications, harm could occur if they are not.

IYKYK, Using Abbreviations in Veterinary Medicine

With the rise of text messaging and social media comes an increased use of abbreviations garnering the name ‘text speak.’ My teenager seems to enjoy communicating via ‘text speak’ texting and bombarding me with unknown abbreviations. Don’t worry, Google’s modern dictionary is helpful in most of the if you know, you know (IYKYK) situations or should I say, if you don’t know, you don’t know (IYDKYDK) situations. Communicating information with minimal characters is increasingly common in the medical field. Abbreviations, initialisms, and acronyms used in veterinary medicine appear in medical records, dialogues between colleagues, and in scientific literature but also in patient discharges and client/pet-owner communications. Abbreviations are commonly used to save space, key or pen strokes, avoid repetition, and even enhance understanding; however, when inappropriately used, confusion perhaps leading to misunderstanding can occur potentially resulting in patient harm.1,2 As a technician, if I do not understand, or perhaps worse, if I misinterpret the abbreviation, it could incorrectly execute a veterinarian’s directives. If a pet owner misunderstands, again, inappropriate patient care is a risk as well as potential client frustration.

Reviewing Terminology

Abbreviations are a shortened form of a word or phrase. Example: femoral/sciatic block is commonly abbreviated as fem/sci block. Additionally, two subtypes of abbreviations include acronyms and initialisms. Important to note that while acronyms and initialisms are types of abbreviations, not all abbreviations are acronyms or initialisms.

Acronyms are parts of the words or the first letter of a word that makes up a phrase pronounced as a word. Example: total intravenous anesthesia commonly written as TIVA (pronounced tea-vah), or gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor commonly written as GABA (pronounced gab-ah).

Initialisms are pronounced letter by letter. Example: disseminated intravascular coagulation, abbreviated as DIC.

Standards for Use of Abbreviations

The American Psychological Association (APA) format regarding abbreviations suggests that they only be used if that phrase or word appears in the work at least three times. Good practice in APA format suggests the first occurrence of an abbreviation is to be completely spelled out followed by the acronym or initialism in parentheses. APA formatting also suggests abbreviations be avoided in titles…oops. There are, however, a few situations where we can abbreviate without writing out the full word first. These include units of measurement (e.g. [Latin abbreviation for exempli gratia ‘for example’] 5 mg) and SI units (i.e. [Latin abbreviation for id est ‘that is’], which stands for International System of Units) are considered a global standard and understood broadly. This process of clearly defining the abbreviation on first occurrence, helps ensure that the reader understands from that point forward the intended meaning. It stands to reason that this would be ideal practice in our medical recording keeping and communications. However, realistically, or perhaps clinically, in a closed, controlled audience, we will fall into using abbreviations without ‘writing them out’ on first occurrence, especially in informal, written, and verbal communications. But that does not eliminate their potential to cause confusion. Here are a few that have tripped me up over the years…

Out with the Old, In with the New

Feline urinary syndrome (FUS) has been replaced by feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD), deemed a more appropriate description. But often, feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) is inappropriately used in place of FUS or FLUTD. FIC implies inflammation of the urinary tract or bladder from unknown causes and could be a cause of FUS, now called FLUTD. FLUTD is an all-encompassing term used to describe any issue with the urinary tract, excluding the kidneys. In short, FIC could be a cause of FLUTD if other causes are ruled out (i.e. UTI-urinary tract infection). Another, example of abbreviation modernization is hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE) is now termed acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome (AHDS). Studies demonstrated that dogs with AHDS, formerly called HGE, do not always have gastric inflammation—making the new terminology, like FLUTD, a more appropriate description.

Clinical Miscoms (Miscommunications)

Perhaps this seems silly or unimportant however, let me share a couple of personal examples I have experienced. My clinical background is limited to emergency/referral only, in both private and veterinary teaching hospitals, albeit in three different states. So, my experience involves similar colleagues, similar setting, seeing similar cases. I vividly remember being asked to obtain QATs following recovery of a patient at my second job, a veterinary teaching hospital. As an established credentialed veterinary technician (CrVT) and veterinary technician specialist (VTS) in anesthesia and analgesia, perhaps embarrassingly to some, I had no idea what QATs stood for. Quick Google search yielded quality assessment tools (QATs). At this job, QATs implied packed cell volume (PCV), total protein (TP), glucose (Glu or BG), and lactate (Lac). At my first employer, the equivalent was a minimum database (MBA), which included PCV, TP, patient-dependent glucose and/or lactate. Finally, interviewing at another veterinary teaching hospital, they mentioned routinely performing ‘The Big 4’ referring to PCV/TP/BG/BUN (blood urea nitrogen) in every recovered patient.

Image by Sabine from Pixabay

You are a technician monitoring or providing care for a patient, and the veterinarian requests a BG, what would this mean to you? Would BG mean the same thing if the patient was an 8-week-old puppy versus a patient recovering from a thoracotomy? To me, a BG for the puppy would mean blood glucose, whereas BG for the thoracotomy would mean a blood gas (perhaps even an arterial blood gas [ABG]). Let’s pretend you work at an emergency/referral hospital and need to anesthetize a patient who comes with a history of anesthetic arrest documented in the medical record after receiving 0.3 mL of kitty magic and 0.2 mL of BUP. Can you confidently identify what medications this patient received from the information provided in the medical record (which, as a reminder, is a legal document)?  What is in the ‘kitty magic’…tiletamine/zolazepam, butorphanol, dexmedetomidine, medetomidine, ketamine, alfaxalone, buprenorphine, xylazine or any combination of these drugs…additionally does BUP stand for buprenorphine or bupivacaine? Maybe this was a castration, and testicular blocks were performed using bupivacaine. Same confusion could occur with ‘dex’ written in a medical record. Is ‘dex’ dexamethasone or dexmedetomidine? Point being, improper use of abbreviations could lead to misunderstanding and increase risk to patients.

It’s impossible to provide a comprehensive list of veterinary medical accepted abbreviations; however, when using abbreviations, consider these boundaries:

  • Consider the audience (e.g. intrahospital, interhospital, colleague to colleague, veterinary professional to pet owner/lay-person).
  • Consider the context (e.g. cage card identification, verbal patient rounds, legal document like a medical record/report, owner discharge instructions, a written prescription to an internal or external pharmacy).
  • In legal documents, consider following APA abbreviation guidelines.
  • Avoid trade and brand names, use actual drug names when possible.

Image by WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay

In conclusion, FWIW, IMHO and POV, abbr. Re. DX, PX, and RX, especially in medical settings between CrVTs and vets, VP and PO need to be clear and tailored to the audience. TBF, WYSIWYG may result in IDK or worse, a misunderstanding that increases M&M. Use of abbr. should not be IYKYK in the vet med space.

In conclusion, for what it is worth, in my humble opinion and point of view, abbreviations regarding diagnosis, prognosis, and prescriptions, especially in medical settings between credentialed veterinary technicians and veterinarians, veterinary professionals and pet owners need to be clear and tailored to the audience. To be fair, what you see is what you get may result in ‘I don’t know’ or worse, a misunderstanding that increases morbidity and mortality. Use of abbreviations should not be if you know, you know in the veterinary medical space.

References:

  1. Tariq RA, Sharma S. Inappropriate medical abbreviations. 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519006/
  2. Wittich CM, Burkle CM, Lanier WL. Medication errors: an overview for clinicians. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2014 Aug 1 (Vol. 89, No. 8, pp. 1116-1125). Elsevier.

 

 

  4. Ajiona Lunsford says:

    Awesome article! I think this is a topic that should be discussed in hospitals and within a veterinary team.

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