CardiologyTrials.org - Improving evidence-based medicine. University - Department of Pharmacology - Quizzes. List of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions. This is a list of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions and hospital orders (sometimes referred to as sig codes). This list does not include abbreviations for pharmaceuticals (which is a separate article in itself). Capitalization and the use of periods is a matter of style. In the list, Latin is not capitalized whereas English acronyms are.
The period is used wherever there are letters omitted in the abbreviation. Abbreviations which are not recommended by the Joint Commission, an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization which offers "accreditation" to hospitals and other "healthcare" organizations in the United States (not binding on U.S. physicians, but required of organizations who wish "accreditation" by the Joint Commission) are marked in red.