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Nothing by mouth. Nothing by mouth is an American medical instruction meaning to withhold food and fluids. It is also known as nil per os ( npo or NPO ), a Latin phrase that translates to English as "nothing through the mouth". Nil by mouth is the term used in the UK ( NBM ), nihil / non / nulla per os, or complete bowel rest. [1]
The main discussion of these abbreviations in the context of drug prescriptions and other medical prescriptions is at List of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions. Some of these abbreviations are best not used, as marked and explained here.
This is a list of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions, including hospital orders (the patient-directed part of which is referred to as sig codes). This list does not include abbreviations for pharmaceuticals or drug name suffixes such as CD, CR, ER, XT (See Time release technology § List of abbreviations for those).
Abbreviations are used very frequently in medicine. They boost efficiency as long as they are used intelligently. The advantages of brevity should be weighed against the possibilities of obfuscation (making the communication harder for others to understand) and ambiguity (having more than one possible interpretation).
Second, medical roots generally go together according to language, i.e., Greek prefixes occur with Greek suffixes and Latin prefixes with Latin suffixes. Although international scientific vocabulary is not stringent about segregating combining forms of different languages, it is advisable when coining new words not to mix different lingual roots.
As used in standard medical jargon, P.R.N. is understood to mean "as needed". This reading of the abbreviation implies that the delivery of the prescription (by a suitable person, following a medications protocol) is done in a reactive, passive way, e.g., "when that happens, do this".
Abbreviation Meaning Δ: diagnosis; change: ΔΔ: differential diagnosis (the list of possible diagnoses, and the effort to narrow that list) +ve: positive (as in the result of a test) # fracture: #NOF: fracture to the neck of the femur ℞ (R with crossed tail) prescription: Ψ: psychiatry, psychosis: Σ: sigmoidoscopy: x/12: x number of ...
"Take" for R, abbreviation of the Latin word recipe, meaning "take". Most abbreviations can be found in the Chambers Dictionary as this is the dictionary primarily used by crossword setters. However, some abbreviations may be found in other dictionaries, such as the Collins English Dictionary and Oxford English Dictionary.