Common Medical Abbreviations on Prescriptions & Lab Reports
Prescriptions, lab reports and discharge summaries are written in a dense shorthand that can be hard to follow. Knowing a handful of common abbreviations makes it much easier to understand your own care.
This guide explains the medical abbreviations you are most likely to see in India. It is for general understanding only — always follow your doctor’s instructions and ask them if anything is unclear.
On a prescription (dosage)
Doctors often use Latin-derived shorthand for timing. OD means once a day, BD (or BID) means twice a day, and TDS (or TID) means three times a day. QID means four times a day.
HS means at bedtime, SOS means take only if needed, AC means before food and PC means after food. “Rx” simply marks the start of the prescription.
Vital signs
BP is blood pressure, HR is heart rate, RR is respiratory rate and SpO2 is the oxygen saturation of your blood. BMI, the Body Mass Index, relates your weight to your height.
Common blood tests
CBC is a Complete Blood Count, one of the most frequently ordered tests. ESR and CRP are markers of inflammation.
LFT and KFT (also called RFT) check liver and kidney function, while HbA1c reflects your average blood sugar over the past two to three months.
Scans and imaging
X-ray, USG (ultrasound), CT and MRI are imaging tests that look inside the body in different ways. ECG (or EKG) records the heart’s electrical activity.
If a report mentions a test you do not recognise, look up the acronym or ask your doctor what it was checking for.