Cosnautas - Dictionary of medical acronyms | Search the most comprehensive glossary of Spanish medical abbreviations.

As far as I am aware, this Repertorio de siglas, acrónimos, abreviaturas y símbolos is the most comprehensive collection of Spanish medical abbreviations published to date. It has in excess of 42,800 entries and 133,100 meanings. It is designed to lend a helping hand to people who have to unravel abbreviations of all sorts in Spanish texts, and particularly for medical translators who have Spanish as their source language.

It should not be looked upon as a prescriptive resource that imposes a correct way to abbreviate a medical term in Spanish. The fact, for example, that the repertoire glosses IE as incontinencia de esfuerzo does not mean that the expression should be abbreviated this way. Indeed, the very nature of this repertoire is such that it contains clearly incorrect abbreviations, such as CF (citoféresis), grs. (gramos), m (minuto) and T (tungsteno). However, these abbreviations are used in practice and translators are likely to find them in their source text.

I have included any initialism, acronym, contraction or symbol found in Spanish medical texts, but I have excluded three major groups of abbreviations:

a) Initialisms and acronyms used in clinical trial titles (e.g., CATS, PACT, TIPE). Not only have they been compiled by Tsung O. Cheng in exhaustive lists, but they are also easy to locate in online clinical trial databases.

b) English initialisms, except those in general use in Spanish texts, such as ADSL, ATP, REM and TSH. If I had been less strict with this criterion, the repertoire would have outgrown itself - big dictionaries of international medical abbreviations can easily have upwards of 100,000 entries - without reflecting a proportional increase in usefulness. It would have become too unwieldy. In any case, English medical abbreviations are easy to find in many different specialised dictionaries, both in print and online, and these reference resources are usually far more exhaustive and reliable than those that have been available to date in Spanish.

c) Shortenings for medical journals and publications, except in the case of initialisms. Therefore, in the case of Revista Clínica Española, the international shortened name Rev Clín Esp is not included, but RCE is; and in the case of Gaceta Mexicana de Oncología, Gac Mex Oncol is not included, but Gamo is.

You may be surprised to find a number of Spanish abbreviations that are apparently unrelated to medicine; I have included them because they sometimes appear in medical texts. In Spain, for example, it is relatively common to find abbreviations such as CEDD (Comité Español de Disciplina Deportiva) in a text about doping, CEE (Conferencia Episcopal Española) in a bioethical text about euthanasia, IU (Izquierda Unida) in a text about medical school curricular reform, PK (punto kilométrico) in a patient’s medical report on a road traffic accident, and SS.MM. (sus majestades) in a newspaper review of a big international medical congress. Faced with the choice of including abbreviations outside the field of medicine, which may never be consulted, or leaving out general abbreviations that a medical translator may need to look up just occasionally, I opted for the former. I hope professional translators will excuse me if I have been too permissive in this respect.

As a general rule, initialisms appear in upper case and without full stops; acronyms with an initial capital letter only (e.g., Acope for the Asociación Costarricense de Pediatría and Aeter for the Asociación Española de Terminología); contractions with full stops to indicate omission, and symbols in accordance with the styles recommended in standardised scientific nomenclatures. Therefore, initialisms such as E.P.O.C. and O.M.S. do not appear, because they are only entered as EPOC and OMS; and contractions such as vo and pm do not appear either, because they are only entered as v.o. (vía oral) and p.m. (post mortem). I have also omitted most plural initialisms and contractions that are simply formed by adding a lower case s at the end. Therefore, to find initialisms such as ONGs (organizaciones no gubernamentales) and IFNs (interferones), you should search for ONG and IFN, respectively.

With regard to expansions, I have tried to keep upper case use for proper names and specific institutions and organisations, and lower case for common expressions and generic institutions and organisations. Therefore, an initialism such as IPS is expanded in lower case as instituto politécnico de la salud (Cuba), because there are many such institutes, but in upper case as Instituto de Previsión Social (Paraguay), because there is only one.

Within each entry, the different meanings are entered in alphabetical order, with plurals in their own alphabetical place. Therefore, lesiones agudas , for example, appears before lesión alveolar difusa. In the case of expressions that are commonly used in singular and plural, I have frequently drawn on inclusive forms, such as ácido(s) graso(s) saturado(s), but they are also entered in their singular alphabetical place. For the alphabetical order of meanings, I have ignored connectors (e.g., prepositions, articles and conjunctions) unless they form an integral part of the abbreviation, such as a. co. (antes de comer), LUZ (La Universidad de Zulia) and p. ej. (por ejemplo), in which case they are entered in their natural alphabetical place.

Due to space constraints and in the interest of functionality, for each meaning I have simply given the corresponding expansion, any synonyms (denoted by the symbol ≡), and, in many cases, the English equivalent (denoted by the symbol ◊) with its abbreviation and expansion.

In a very few cases, where I thought it would be useful or appropriate, I have added a field with a brief comment to discuss local usage (see section below); to point out abbreviations that are archaic or obsolete (arc.); to specify those used in medical journals and other publications (rev.); to provide further information (info.); to denote a Spanish translation (trad.) in the case of expansions in other languages, from English (ingl.), Latin (lat.), French (fr.) or German (al.), to indicate a term in the original language (n. orig.), synonymous terminology (sin., =) or out-of-date variants (ant.) of names of organisations, associations or entities that have changed over time.

Almost half the abbreviations in this repertoire have at least one specific local usage in a Spanish-speaking country. In such cases, local meanings are preceded by the corresponding country code in red font and square brackets. AR (Argentina), BO (Bolivia), CL (Chile), CR (Costa Rica), CU (Cuba), DO (Dominican Republic), EC (Ecuador), ES (Spain), GQ (Ecuatorial Guinea), GT (Guatemala), HN (Honduras), MX (Mexico), NI (Nicaragua), PA (Panama), PE (Peru), PR (Puerto Rico), PY (Paraguay), SV (El Salvador), US (United States), UY (Uruguay) and VE (Venezuela). Exceptionally, local abbreviations also have local codes such as BR (Brazil) or UK (United Kingdom). Local codes are not used for regional or supranational abbreviations, as in the case of Latin American organisations (e.g., Bireme) or European initialisms (e.g., EMEA), despite the fact that the latter is used almost exclusively in Spain.

I am not aware of any other glossary or dictionary of Spanish medical abbreviations that has as many localisms as this repertoire. However, the localisms are far from exhaustive and they are not at all homogeneous by country. I would venture to say that Spain, with over 17,200 abbreviated localisms, is the only country that has been accounted for satisfactorily. Other countries could be classified as having ‘acceptable’ cover: Mexico has about 5,400 abbreviated localisms, Argentina has 4,400, Chile and Colombia have over 2,000, Peru, USA and Venezuela have over 1,000, etc. To address this imbalance in future editions, I warmly invite you to send me any medical abbreviated localisms that you know of in the underrepresented countries (see Comments and suggestions in “Help us improve!“).

In the case of Spanish localisms from Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Galicia and the Basque Country, I have focused particularly on the three main autonomous languages: Catalan (ca), Galician (gl) and Basque (eu). In the case of initialisms formed from the expansion in Spanish (e.g., COFA,Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Álava), this is glossed first, followed by the name in the co-official language. In the case of initialisms formed from the expansion in an autonomous language (e.g., AFEO,Arabako Farmazilarien Elkargo Ofizialeko), this is glossed first, followed by the Spanish translation. Where the initialism represents the expansion in both languages, the Spanish version is glossed first.

One of the biggest improvements in the second edition of this repertoire is the addition of the equivalent English abbreviation and expansion. The first edition had only 1,200 English abbreviations. They were not expanded and could be searched only through their Spanish equivalent. The second edition (Version 2.27) now has over 21,000 English abbreviations with expansions, and they can be entered directly in the Advanced search box.

The current edition has over 15,000 abbreviations with more than one meaning, 4,882 of which have two meanings, 2,558 have three, 1,673 have four, and 5,394 have five or more meanings. In this last group, some five dozen abbreviations are particularly noteworthy because they have more than fifty meanings each. Context is therefore crucial when deciding on the precise meaning of an abbreviation in a text. DM, for example,is dermatomiositis in dermatology, but diabetes mellitus in endocrinology. However, plenty of examples of ambiguous polysemy can still be found within the same speciality: PCI means peso corporal ideal and peso corporal inicial, and CIM means concentración inhibidora máxima, concentración inhibidora media and concentración inhibidora mínima.

While polysemy is covered, more or less successfully, in most medical abbreviations’ dictionaries, the same does not apply in the case of synonymy, which is almost always ignored. In this repertoire, I have made a particular effort to cover synonyms comprehensively, and I am quite proud of the result. In fact, I believe that this aspect of the repertoire stands out from all other Spanish and international dictionaries of medical abbreviations.

In other dictionaries, readers are rarely warned, for example, that EEB (encefalopatía espongiforme bovina) and EVL (enfermedad de las vacas locas) are exact synonyms, as are ADR (adrenalina) and EPI (epinefrina). This oversight is especially patent in fairly common cases of multiple synonymy, such as ERCT (enfermedad renal crónica terminal), ERET (enfermedad renal en estadio terminal), ERFT (enfermedad renal en fase terminal), ERT (enfermedad renal terminal), FRT (fallo renal terminal), IRCT (insuficiencia renal crónica terminal), IRET (insuficiencia renal en etapa terminal), IRT (insuficiencia renal terminal) and NPT (nefropatía terminal), which are all used as synonymous abbreviations in practice. In such cases, you will find all the synonymous variants in the main entry, with cross references to all the synonymous forms. Thus, if you search for CAP, you will find the 35th meaning gives the common expansion for CAP in cardiology, contracción auricular prematura, followed by a cross reference symbol {→ ESA ¹¹} that links to the eleventh meaning of ESA, extrasístole auricular. The repertoire houses more than 21,000 synonymous cross references.

You will notice that cross references often link to the most commonly-used form in practice, but this is not a criterion for deciding which abbreviated from is the most appropriate. The fact that Hcto. is linked to Hto., for example,does not necessarily make the second abbreviation more correct than the first.

Many years ago, Elisa Vilaret gave me a rough draft of the Spanish abbreviations that she had been working on, and it was that seed that grew into my idea of compiling this abbreviations’ collection; Montse Fontboté, from Ediciones Mayo, kindly gave me a copy of Otharán’s dictionary; Álvaro Herreros Arregui, from MSD pharmaceutical company, sent me Cervera Radigales’ little paperback; and María José Hernández very generously sent me reams of printed material and links to medical abbreviations online.

Cristina Márquez Arroyo and Eduardo Camihort (III) organised and launched the first online edition of this repertoire, which was hosted online by Tremédica from June 2008 to June 2013.

My colleagues Laura Munoa and José Antonio de la Riva encouraged me to join them on this Cos adventure and to prepare a greatly expanded, second online edition of this repertoire, complete with new features.

Since launching the second edition of the Repertorio de siglas on Cosnautas, I have received proposals for additions and corrections from many colleagues. Their suggestions have greatly improved the successive online versions of this work, and I would like to publicly thank the following cosnauts for their contributions:

Version 2.32 Míriam Bernal Montoro, Guido Castañeda Macchiavello, Mario Chávez, Jorge Esteban Casas, Emma Goldsmith, Diego Ibáñez Rivera, Eva Martínez Fornos, Isabel M. Martos, Aris M. Montesinos Rebollo, Álvaro Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Antonio Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, M.ª Fernanda Pignataro, Antonio M. Regueiro, Katy Robinson, Ana Belén Villanueva Hernández.

Version 2.31 Sarah Jane Aberásturi, Míriam Bernal Montoro, Sebastián Fandiño, William Giller, Emma Goldsmith, Juan Carlos Gómez Soro, José A. Huarancca Sánchez, José María Izquierdo, Valentina Luridiana, Elisa Manzanal, Isabel M. Martos, José M. Montero Vázquez, Álvaro Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, María Pineda Cantos, Antonio M. Regueiro, Lorenzo Serrahima.

Version 2.30 Teresa Aguilar Sánchez, Ana Atienza Díaz, Míriam Bernal Montoro, Guido Castañeda Macchiavello, Fernando Contreras Blanco, José Antonio de la Riva Fort, Jesica Flores, Mary Fons i Fleming, Diego Ibáñez Rivera, Agustina Luján de la Torre, Valentina Luridiana, Javier Mallo Martínez, Alfredo Martínez Román, Francesca Matteoda, José María Montero Vázquez, Álvaro Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Anthony Palomo, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Laura Pittinari-Miyazono, Antonio M. Regueiro, María Requena Castañol, Ana Belén Villanueva Hernández.

Version 2.29 M. Gonzalo Claros, Agustina L. de la Torre, Rosa María Domínguez Borad, Marta Fernández Seoane, Diego Ibáñez Rivera, Juan Diego López García, Elisa Manzanal, Francesca Matteoda, Beatriz Muñoz Biesa, María José Nägler, Álvaro Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Rocío Poza Guedes, Daniela Ramírez, Antonio M. Regueiro, Lydia Rodríguez-Villanueva García, Rodrigo Rosales Sosa, María Victoria Sormani, M.ª Candelaria Turri, Andrea Valero Mathieu, Elena Vera Guerrero.

Version 2.28 Ana Atienza Díaz, Claudia Bayá Crapuchett, Míriam Bernal Montoro, M.ª Daniela Bordet, Ana Cabezas, Yovana Coupey, Sara Galindo Álvarez, Olga Gallegos Núñez, Mayra Gaudio, Diego Ibáñez Rivera, Juan Iraola Otermin, Jacqueline Lamb, Melisa B. López, Juan Diego López García, Valentina Luridiana, Antoni C. Maroto, Francesca Matteoda, Laura Micó, Anastasa Mishina, Paola Montaner, Laura Munoa, Paul Murga, Álvaro Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Miguel Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Antonio M. Regueiro, Cristina Romero Laza, Camila Rufino, Alejandro Ruiz Rodríguez, Olga Sánchez Plans, María Victoria Sormani, Montserrat Vilá González-Sáenz, Carolina Zabala.

Version 2.27 Teresa Aguilar Sánchez, Míriam Bernal Montoro, Guido Castañeda Macchiavello, M. Gonzalo Claros, Agustina Cossia Colagioia, Rossana Couto Lago, María de la Rubia Gómez-Morán, Rosa María Domínguez Borad, Mary Fons i Fleming, Lorenzo Gallego Borghini, Silvia Gómez de Antonio, Pablo Mugüerza, Álvaro Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Miguel Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Anthony Palomo, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Antonio M. Regueiro, Tenesor Rodríguez Perdomo, Lydia Rodríguez-Villanueva García, Alejandro Ruiz Rodríguez, María Victoria Sormani.

Version 2.26 Teresa Aguilar Sánchez, Mary Fons i Fleming, Lorenzo Gallego Borghini, Jesús M. Giménez, Emma Goldsmith, Gisela Grosselfinger, María J. Hernández Weigand, Diego Ibáñez Rivera, Antoni C. Maroto, Eva Molina De Vilbiss, José M. Montero Vázquez, Pablo Mugüerza, Álvaro Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Miguel Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Antonio M. Regueiro, Cristina Río López, Gloria M. Rivera, Mar Rodríguez Vázquez, María Victoria Sormani.

Version 2.25 Sarah Jane Aberásturi; Teresa Aguilar Sánchez; María Eugenia Bartolomé; Francisco Bautista Becerro; Rosa Acebal Berruguete; Sara Galindo Álvarez; Jesús M. Giménez; Emma Goldsmith; Juan Carlos Gómez Soro; José A. Huarancca Sánchez; Diego Ibáñez Rivera; Cristina Lanuza Zamora; Soledad Llarrull; Valentina Luridiana; Carmen Martínez Pérez-Herrera; Francesca Matteoda; José M. Montero Vázquez; Miguel Navarro R.‑Villanueva; Anthony Palomo; María Teresa Pérez Mariscal; Emilia Picazo Guadarrama; Antonio M. Regueiro; Cristina Río López; Caridad Ríos Hamann; Lydia Rodríguez-Villanueva García; Alejandro Ruiz Rodríguez; María Eugenia Santa Coloma Costea.

Version 2.24 Teresa Aguilar Sánchez; M. Gonzalo Claros; Sara Galindo Álvarez; Anna García; Juan Carlos Gómez Soro; Diego Ibáñez Rivera; Mar Jiménez Quesada; Valentina Luridiana; Miguel Navarro R.‑Villanueva; Anthony Palomo; Emilia Picazo Guadarrama; Antonio M. Regueiro; Cristina Río López; Laia Rodríguez; Manuel Rubio Máñez.

Versión 2.23 Teresa Aguilar Sánchez; Adriana Álvarez R.; Mary Fons i Fleming; Jesús M. Giménez; Juan Carlos Gómez Soro; Diego Ibáñez Rivera; Juan Diego López García; Valentina Luridiana; Francesca Matteoda; José María Montero Vázquez; Miguel Navarro R.‑Villanueva; Daniel Núñez; Anthony Palomo; Emilia Picazo Guadarrama; María Pineda Cantos; Teresa Pons Ferrer; Antonio M. Regueiro; Gloria Rivera; Manuel Rubio Máñez.

Version 2.22 Teresa Aguilar Sánchez, Betty Galiano, Jesús M. Giménez, Javier Mallo Martínez, Alfredo Martínez Román, José M. Montero Vázquez, Miguel Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Antonio M. Regueiro, Cristina Río López, Mar Rodríguez Vázquez, Joseph Tein.

Version 2.21 Teresa Aguilar Sánchez, Wyman Borts, Sabrina Ciserchia, Jesús M. Giménez, Paz Gómez Polledo, María J. Hernández Weigand, Miguel Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Cinnamon Nolan, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Antonio M. Regueiro, Cristina Río López.

Version 2.20 Teresa Aguilar Sánchez, Carmen Albaladejo, Neil Ashby, Rossella Cordone, Fernando D’Agostino, Roni Glaser, Paz Gómez Polledo, Rocío Gómez Zamora, Milagros Landini Maruff, Isabel Lansberry, Ana Loara, Lucía Estefanía Martín Díaz, Carolina Millet, Laura Munoa, Miguel Navarro R.-Villanueva, Marta Nieto Pensado, Anthony Palomo, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Antonio M. Regueiro, Cristina Río López, Mar Rodríguez Vázquez, M.ª Verónica Saladrigas, Sonia Sleep, Elliott Urdang.

Version 2.19 Teresa Aguilar Sánchez, Neil Ashby, Sara Brown, Ángeles del Castillo Aguas, Mayte Galán, Marie García, Jesús M. Giménez, Roni Glaser, Paz Gómez Polledo, Valentina Luridiana, Javier Mallo Martínez, Paul Murga Ruiz, Antonio Navarro R.-Villanueva, Miguel Navarro R.-Villanueva, Anthony Palomo, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Antonio M. Regueiro, Cristina Río López, Lydia R.-Villanueva García, Emily Safrin, M.ª Verónica Saladrigas, Antonio Sanguino Yturriaga, Elliott Urdang, Carole Wolfe.

Version 2.18 Ana Atienza Díaz, Esperanza Blog-Case, Silvia Escobar, Mary Fons i Fleming, Juan Carlos Gómez Soro, Melanie Gray, Emilia Madrigal Palacio, Álvaro Navarro R.-Villanueva, Miguel Navarro R.-Villanueva, Antonio M. Regueiro, Elliott Urdang.

Version 2.17 Laura C. Collada Ali, Lorenzo Gallego Borghini, Emma Goldsmith, Paz Gómez Polledo, Andrés González García, Valentina Luridiana, Laura Munoa, Miguel Navarro R.‑Villanueva, Antonio M. Regueiro, Janet Ross Snyder, Rafael Treviño.

Version 2.16 Teresa Aguilar, Míriam Bernal Montoro, Sara Brown, Hugo Cortés Mejía, M.ª Paz Fagoaga, Emma Goldsmith, Miriam Iglesias Raffay, Lily Irizarry, Francesca Matteoda, Miguel Navarro R.-Villanueva, Emilia Picazo, Cristina Río López, Janet Ross Snyder, Toni Sanguino.

Version 2.15 Felipe Contreras San Francisco; Betty Galiano; Emma Goldsmith; Bozena Jablonski; Anayensy Ojer Sánchez; José Sergio Pajares Nievas; Janet Ross Snyder; Joseph Tein.

Version 2.14 Esperanza Blog-Case, Mario Chávez, Mary Fons i Fleming, Emma Goldsmith, Virginia Renalias Esteve, Silvia Rizzuti, Janet Ross Snyder, Joseph Tein, Rafael Treviño.

Version 2.13 Ana Atienza Díaz, Yvonne Becker, Gerard Bros, Mario Chávez, Mary Fons i Fleming, Emma Goldsmith, Paz Gómez Polledo, Lily Irizarry, Valentina Luridiana, Samuel Maat, Antonio Navarro R.-Villanueva, Miguel Navarro R.-Villanueva, Jessie Orlich, Emilia Picazo, Blanca Piedrafita, Antonio M. Regueiro, Janet Ross Snyder, Pilar Sancho Franco, Joseph Tein, BarbaraThomas, Samuel White.

Version 2.11 Yvonne Becker, M. Gonzalo Claros, Marta Díez, Emma Goldsmith, Paz Gómez Polledo, María J. Hernández Weigand, Laura Munoa, Natalia Pérez Ramos, Virginia Renalias, Janet Ross Snyder, Joseph Tein.

Version 2.10 Mary Fons i Fleming, Paz Gómez Polledo, Daniel Hinostroza, Lily Irizarry, Miguel Navarro R.-Villanueva, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Antonio M. Regueiro, Janet Ross Snyder, Pilar Sancho Franco, Joseph Tein, Daniela Toledo, Nigel Wheatley, Samuel White.

Version 2.09 Yoram Bar-Am, Cristina Berry, Gonzalo Claros, Patricia Ferreira Larrieux, Jesús M. Giménez, Paz Gómez Polledo, Valentina Luridiana, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Toni Planas, Pilar Sancho Franco, Samuel White.

Version 2.08 Sara Brown, Omar Cañones, M. Gonzalo Claros, Roland Combes, Antonio M. Regueiro, Janet Ross Snyder, Pilar Sancho Franco, Joseph Tein.

Version 2.07 Mónica García Delgado, Gina Hardinge, Anna Lenhardt Sánchez, Laura Munoa, Joseph Tein, Ana Weyland.

Version 2.06 Paul Adie, Eduardo Alegría Ezquerra, Lorenzo Gallego Borghini, Mónica García Delgado, Jesús M. Giménez, Emma Goldsmith, James Lyons, Laura Munoa, Natalia Pérez, Emilia Picazo, Toni Planas, Antonio M. Regueiro, Janet Ross Snyder, Toni Sanguino, Joseph Tein, Daniel Valiente Fernández.

Version 2.05 Paul Adie, José Bocic, Jesús M. Giménez, Gina Hardinge, Floreal Martínez Núñez, Emilia Picazo Guadarrama, Janet Ross Snyder, Joseph Tein.

Version 2.04 Mike Harland, Laura Munoa, Cinnamon Nolan, Janet Ross Snyder, Emilio B. Sánchez, JosephTein, Ana Weyland Sarmiento, Nigel Wheatley.

Version 2.03 Vicent Alberola Cuñat, Eduardo Alegría Ezquerra, Miguel Armentia, José Bocic, Carlos Brailovsky, Jennifer de la Cruz, Esther Fernández Berjón, Mary Fons i Fleming, Betty Galiano, Daniel Hinostroza, Antonio M. Regueiro, Janet Ross Snyder, Ana Salvador Amela, Antonio Sanguino Yturriaga, Gustavo A. Silva, Joseph Tein.

Version 2.02 Ana Atienza Díaz, Esther Fernández Berjón, Emma Goldsmith, Guillermo Murillo, Antonio M. Regueiro, Gustavo A. Silva, Janet Ross Snyder, Joseph Tein.

To compile this repertoire, I have drawn on my medical experience as a translator over the past twenty years; systematic scrutiny of Diario Médico and the weekly journal Jano: Medicina y Humanidades over the past six years; sporadic reading of many other Spanish and Latin American medical journals; infinite Google searches, and the following printed and online resources:

– Aleixandre Benavent, R.; Albelda Viana, R.; Ferrer Casanova, C.; Carsí Villalba, E.; Pastor Barberá, J.Á.; Cervera Moscardó, J.B.: Uso y abuso de abreviaturas y siglas entre atención primaria, especializada y hospitalaria. Papeles Médicos, 2006; 15 (2): 29-36. <www.sedom.es/3_papeles/15_2/art_3.pdf>.

– Aleixandre Benavent, R.; Alonso Arroyo, A.; González Muñoz, M.; González de Dios, J.: Comunicación científica (XXIII); Lenguaje médico (1): usos y abusos de las abreviaturas y siglas en el lenguaje médico y en pediatría. Acta Pediátrica Española, 2015; 73: 134-140.

– Aleixandre Benavent, R.; Amador Iscla, A.: Problemas del lenguaje médico actual (II): abreviaciones y epónimos. Papeles Médicos, 2001; 10: 170-176.

– Anónimo: Siglas. Abbott Científica, S.A. Sin fecha. <www.abbottdiagnostics.es/siglas/siglas.asp>.

– Anónimo [wiki]: Siglas médicas. En: El portal de la enfermería. Sin fecha. <www.laenfermeria.es/>.

– Baños, Josep Eladi; Guardiola, Elena: Abreviaturas, siglas y acrónimos. En: El dolor del lenguaje. Barcelona: Permanyer, 2001; 37-52.

– Bermúdez Polonio, R.: Comentarios acerca de las abreviaciones y la otorrinolaringología. Anales Otorrinolaringológicos Ibero Americanos, 1983; 10: 303-317.

– Carré Llopis, M.ª C.; Jiménez Villa, J.: Abreviaturas, siglas y acrónimos en el mundo de los medicamentos. Farmacia Clínica, 1995; 12: 62-75.

– Carré Llopis, M.ª C.; Jiménez Villa, J.: Abreviaciones en el mundo de los medicamentos, ¿un problema de comunicación? Farmacia Clínica, 1996; 13: 78.

– Cervera Radigales, Carlos: Diccionario médico y abreviaturas de uso frecuente en neurología. Barcelona: Nexus Médica, 2005.

– Fernández López, Justo: Abreviaturas, siglas y símbolos. Innsbruck, sin fecha. <http://culturitalia.uibk.ac.at/hispanoteca>.

– García Tornel, S.; Krauel, J.; Nadal Amat, J.: Jeroglífico en la terminología de la ventilación mecánica. Revista Española de Pediatría, 1981; 37: 1-2.

– Garrido Hermosilla, Antonio Manuel; Domínguez Llamas, Sandra; Avilés Prieto, Javier; Lledó de Villar, María Leticia: Siglas y acrónimos de oftalmología. Sociedad Española de Oftalmología y Sociedad Andaluza de Oftalmología, 2024. <www.oftalmoseo.com/siglas-y-acronimos>.

– Guardiola Pereira, Elena; Baños Díez, Josep Eladi: Sobre la correcta utilización de las siglas: reflexiones a propósito de AINE e IECA. Medifam, 2003; 13: 326-328.

– Illera Martín, Mariano: Diccionario de acrónimos con símbolos y abreviaturas para las ciencias de la salud (2.ª edición). Madrid: Fundación Wellcome, 1999.

– Intxaurrondo, Ander (bajo la supervisión de Martin Krallinger): AbreMES-DB. Madrid: Secretaría de Estado para el Avance Digital y Zenodo, 2018. <https://zenodo.org/record/2207130>.

– Jablonski, Stanley: Dictionary of medical acronyms & abbreviations (5.ª edición). Filadelfia: Elsevier, 2005.

– Madurga, M.: Acrónimos: una lista abierta. Farmacia Clínica, 1996; 3: 76-77.

– Martín Lázaro, Juan; Rubí Cervino, José: Manual de siglas médicas por especialidades. Torrelodones: Recordart, 2004.

– Martínez, Milton M.: Abreviaturas y acrónimos. Xavier University of Louisiana, sin fecha. <http://webusers.xula.edu/mmartine/academica/AbreviaturasyAcronimos.htm>.

– Medicina Clínica: Abreviaciones cientificomédicas. En: Manual de estilo para publicaciones biomédicas. Barcelona: Doyma, 1993; 397-435.

– Ministerio de Defensa (de España): Glosario [de siglas]. Madrid: Ministerio de Defensa, 2015. <www.defensa.gob.es/defensa_yo/glosario>.

– Moreno Rodríguez, Ricardo (coord.): Diccionario de prefijos y suficos, siglas y términos frecuentes de ciencias de la salud para estudiantes del grado en lengua de signos española y comunidad sorda. Colección «Democratizando la accesibilidad». Granada: La Ciudad Accesible, 2020.

– Murcia Grau, Miguel: Diccionario de abreviaturas, siglas y acrónimos. Barcelona: Península, 1998.

– Nemi, Sergio Andrés: Manual de abreviaturas de uso frecuente del Hospital Privado de Comunidad de Mar del Plata, [sin fecha]. <www.hpc.org.ar/images/revista/431-v3p166.pdf>

– Oficina de Gestión de la Calidad del Hospital Nacional Hipólito Unanue: Diccionario de abreviaturas y siglas médicas a utilizar en la historia clínica e indicaciones afines. Lima: HNHU, 2012. <www.hnhu.gob.pe/CUERPO/DOCUMENTOS%20APROBADOS/ABREVIATURAS.pdf>.

– Otharán, Enrique Marcelino: Diccionario de abreviaturas, acrónimos, siglas y símbolos médicos. Barcelona: Mayo, 2002.

– Pérez Peña, F.: Deterioro del lenguaje médico: el imperio de las siglas. Anales de Medicina Interna (Madrid), 1994; 11: 107-108.

– Prinz, J.; Millán, M.: Estudio de la terminología en la historia clínica. Todo Hospital, 1995; 10: 167-169.

– Puerta López-Cózar, José Luis; Mauri Más, Assumpta: Abreviaturas y acrónimos médicos en español. En: Manual para la redacción, traducción y publicación de textos médicos. Barcelona: Masson, 1995; 371-398.

– Sánchez Ocaña, Ramón: El abuso de las siglas. Jano (Barcelona), 2003; 64: 1715.

– Servicio Madrileño de Salud: Estandarización de abreviaturas, símbolos y expresiones utilizados en la prescripción y la administración de medicamentos de la Comunidad de Madrid. Madrid: Consejería de Sanidad, 2014. <http://www.madrid.org/bvirtual/BVCM017661.pdf>.

– Subdirección de Servicios Paramédicos y Departamento de Estadística y Archivo Clínico del INCMNSZ: Glosario de abreviaturas utilizadas en el Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán. México: INCMNSZ, 2013. <www.incmnsz.mx:8080/intranet/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/GLOSARIOINCMNSZ.pdf>.

– Szigriszt, Francisco: Abreviaturas, acrónimos, siglas y símbolos. En: Manual de estilo del médico dermatólogo. Madrid: Aula Médica, 2004; 619-764.

– Translation Services of Disability Determination Services of the Texas Rehabilitation Commission: Spanish-English glossary of medical abbreviations [documento de uso interno, sin lugar ni fecha].

– Usandizaga, José Antonio; Díez Gómez E.: Abreviar el lenguaje escrito. Actualidad Obstétrico-Ginecológica, 2001; 13: 104-113.

– Vázquez y del Árbol, Esther: Glosario (inglés<>español) de siglas, acrónimos y abreviaturas de documentos médicos. Panace@: Revista de Medicina, Lenguaje y Traducción, 2016; 17: 87-97.

– Viladiu, P.: Diccionario oncológico: abreviaturas, siglas y acrónimos. Barcelona: JIMS, 1993.

– Williams, Rob; Institute of Translation and Intepreting; Medical and Pharmaceutical Network: Medical acronyms and abbreviations. Sin lugar, 2010.

– Yetano Laguna, Javier; Alberola Cuñat, Vicent: Diccionario de siglas médicas y otras abreviaturas, epónimos y términos médicos relacionados con la codificación de las altas hospitalarias. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, 2003. [Disponible también en PDF: <www.msc.es/sns/sistemasInformacion/normalizacion/diccionario/pdfs/diccionarioSiglasMedicas.pdf>.] [Desde el año 2011, la Sociedad Española de Documentación Médica ofrece también en línea una versión electrónica con actualización continua: <http://diccionario.sedom.es>.]

Medical abbreviations in Spanish

General approach

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Notes on usage

Entry structure conventions

Order of multiple meanings

Entry structure

Localisms

English equivalences

Polysemy

Synonymy

Acknowledgments

Bibliography