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Hi all

I'm a Podiatrist working in an Adelaide metro hospital and am part of an allied health documentation work group. One issue we have raised is around approved abbreviations for each discipline.

I know there is approved medical terminology from the book "Australian Dictionary of Clinical Abbreviations" but I am having difficulty trying to locate any Podiatry specific abbreviations in the literature.

Can anyone please help me or point me in the right direction?!

Thanks, Ruth

Hi Ruth, this might help, perhaps...


CLINICAL TERMINOLOGY AND ABBREVIATIONS


GENERAL TERMINOLOGY

H/O history of
C/O complains of
TBS to be seen
TCI to come in
3/7 three days
1/52 one week
1/12 one month
Rt right
Lt left
Bilat. Bilateral/both sides
CSP Cardinal sagittal plane


ANATOMY

Ant anterior/to the front
Post posterior/to the rear
Sup superior/above/over
Inf inferior/below/beneath
Med medial/towards midline
Lat lateral/to the side
Plant plantar/sole surface
Dors dorsal/top/back of foot
Apical on the apex/tip/end of toe
1st web first interdigital space
Dist distal/further out
Prox proximal/closer in
MPJ metatarsophalangeal joint
IPJ interphalangeal joint
3rd.Met.Hd. third metatarsal head


NAIL DYSTROPHIES

Onycho~ specific nail dystrophy
e.g. onychomycosis
(fungal toe nail)
~nychia specific nail dystrophy
e.g. paronychia
(infection of nail fold)
O/HD subungual heloma durum
O/C onychocryptosis
O/G onychogryphosis
O/X onychauxis
O/P onychophosis
PNA partial nail avulsion
TNA total nail avulsion
NT&F nails trimmed and filed


SKIN PATHOLOGIES

HD heloma durum hard corn
HM heloma molle soft corn
Hmille heloma milliaire seed corn
HV h. vasculare vascular corn
HNV h. neurovasculare neurovascular corn
VP verruca pedis verruca
enuc enucleated
prd pared
call.rcd. callus reduced
call.rdn callus reduction



MISCELLANEOUS TERMS

OA osteoarthritis
RhA rheumatoid arthritis
IDDM insulin dependant Diabetes mellitus
NIDDM non insulin dependant Diabetes mellitus
PVD peripheral vascular disease
DVT deep vein thrombosis
PreOp before operating
PostOp after operating
Dx diagnosis
Tx treatment
Rx prescription/recommendation
>> condition improved/improving
<< condition deteriorating/going backwards
x3, x5 multiple lesions (e.g. HDs x3 - three HDs)
TBW to be worn (duration of dressing wear)


NOTES

Write in passive past tense: (e.g. HD enuc 2nd met hd
- pressure-relief dressing applied)
Write notes in this order:
what was done to the nails
what was done to the soft tissues
dressings or medicaments applied
instruction to patient - (to be kept dry 48hrs)
intention: (TBS 3/52 - to be seen in three weeks)

Be specific about sites:
HD enuc prox IPJ 4th digit Rt
Call rdn plant Lt 5th MPJ
O/P med groove Rt hallux
When note-writing, relate to body midline (CSP):
i.e. lateral groove of hallux abuts 2nd toe

Hi John & Ruth,

May sound like a silly question.......

I have used these terms since training. However, can anyone enlighten me as to the origin of their use?

Thanks muchly

Mandy

__________________
:)
twirly

Mandy Brooks
Brooks Podiatry
S64 0DE

Suffering a fondness for odd things.

Hi Twirly!

I don't know for sure, but I suspect that it begins with Rx written in the way of the old apothecaries and their copper-plate hand-writing. The front tail of the R was extended rather elegantly below the line and crossed through.

I suspect that Tx, Dx and Hx (histories) are nhs shorthand terms?

Certainly, many abbreviations were in use when I worked in the nhs (in another clinical role, not podiatry) all those years ago. For instance, DNAs did not keep their appointment.

Slightly different I know, but we used to look forward to Mrs Brown's arrival. If a colleague came to you while you were attending a patient, she would say quite openly 'Mrs Brown is here .... a covert way of saying 'tea-up'.

Ruth:

Abbreviations are something we all use in our shorthand of taking clinical notes. However, you must also understand that an abbreviation that is common and accepted in one institution may not be common, or even understood, in another institution, another city or another country. We often have the problem here on Podiatry Arena of individuals using abbreviations for terms they use in their clinical shorthand, which they and their coworkers commonly use, but the rest of us have no clue what they are talking about. Personally, I find it very frustrating trying to read someone's clinical shorthand here on Podiatry Arena when the writer thinks that everyone in the world should know what all their abbreviations mean.

Just thought you might want to take this all into account before you become too liberal at accepting abbreviations as being standard, without possibly asking whether other institutions and cities in your country would also accept and would understand these same abbreviations.

__________________
Sincerely,

Kevin

**************************************************
Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College

e-mail: kevinakirby@comcast.net

Private Practice:
107 Scripps Drive, Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95825 USA
My location

Voice: (916) 925-8111 Fax: (916) 925-8136
**************************************************

Hi Ruth,

As Kevin mentioned, abbeviations used by one group of practitioners may not be recognised by another...

The best advice that I received at uni was not to abbreviate terms due to the potential confusion they can cause... This advice was quite strongly drummed into us by one of our best (and more respected) clinic tutors/lecturers, and as a result I haven't ever abbreviated my notes when working in clinics where other health practitioners share the same patient file (eg. at physio/podiatry clinics, nursing homes, hospitals)...

Regards

Donna

And then there's the ones we don't WANT other people to understand.


THAD - Thinks he's a doctor
PITA - Pain in the A***
OBCT - Phonetic.

etc

And of course in Maidstone we all know what it means if someone sticks their head around the door and asks if you still want to see Mr Tetley.

Regards
Robert

Here's a few more of the politically incorrect that I have heard through the years:

GLM- Good Looking Mom (As in "An 8yo boy presents with a GLM and heel pain")

TFA- Too Fat for Ankle

And my all-time favorite along the same OBCT lines.....

VTMTS- Volkswagon Tire on the Mack Truck Syndrome

Nick

And I thought FITH (F'd in the head) and FLK (Funny looking kid) were bad.

I did learn a lesson though never to teach a student FLK. The look of confusion on a parent's face when they mentioned it - eek!

__________________
Cheers,
Cylie.... in a permanent state of confusion