These days, I'd like to think I know MOST medical abbreviations. But sometimes I'll get a discharge summary on a patient that makes me think that whoever dictated it got a little too abbreviation-happy.
These are all from a recent discharge summary:
ECD
ECD
DDKT
LTBI
I literally had no idea what any of these things meant. Is it just me?
Certain abbreviations are more common among certain types of practitioners
ReplyDeleteBest guesses:
ECD- endocardial cushion defect
DDKT - Deceased Donor Kidney Transplant
LTBI - Latent Tuberculosis Infection?
ECD was something else. It was all the same patient, if that helps :-)
Deleteexternal carotid doppler?
DeleteMisspelled ECG?
I've got nothing
Here in Ireland our national health provider (HSE) has an approved list of abbreviations and shorthand. None of these three feature on our quite extensive list. Use of abbreviations outside this list is officially considered poor clinical practice and doctors can be pulled up on it.
ReplyDeleteClearly they are not in the approved abbreviation list!
ReplyDeleteThat's the case in many professions. In the US Army, they like to make a lot of acronyms as well as abbreviations.
ReplyDeleteI recognize DDKT and LTBI (admittedly they should not be used as they are not "approved" shorthand) but not ECD.
ReplyDeleteI had a real b***h of a lecturer that used to make up her own abbreviations. Some of her slides looked like a cat had been pouncing on the keyboard. She said that by having to look them up we "broadened and deepened our knowledge and understanding." Except you couldn't look them up, because she'd made them up.
ReplyDeleteECD = Extended Criteria Donor. This means they got the kidney from a donor that didn't meet "perfect" criteria.
ReplyDeleteDing ding ding!
Delete