List of medical abbreviations: B

Sortable table

Abbreviation	Meaning
Bx	biopsy
Ba	barium
BAC	blood alcohol content
BAD	Bipolar affective disorder
BADLs	Basic ADLs basic activities of daily living
BAL	bronchoalveolar lavage British anti-Lewisite blood alcohol level
BAO	basic acid output
BAT	brown adipose tissue
BAV	bicuspid aortic valve
BBA	bilateral breast augmentation
BBB	blood–brain barrier
BBB L	left bundle branch block
BBB R	right bundle branch block
BBPS	Boston Bowel Preparation Scale
BBT	basal body temperature
BC	bone conduction blood culture
BCC	basal cell carcinoma blind carbon copy
BCG	bacille Calmette–Guérin (a tuberculosis vaccination)
BCP	birth control pill
BCP	blood chemistry profile
BCX BCx	blood culture
BDR	Background Diabetic Retinopathy
BBMF	"bone break, me fix" (orthopedic consent form)
BD	bipolar disorder twice a day (from Latin bis in die)
BDD	body dysmorphic disorder
BDI	Beck Depression Inventory
BE	barium enema base excess
BEAM	A type of high-dose chemotherapy used to treat lymphoma prior to a stem cell transplant
BEP	bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (chemotherapy regimen)
BFP	bundle forming pilus
BG	blood glucose
BGAT	blood glucose awareness training (to help patients with diabetic hypoglycemia)
BGL	blood glucose level
BIB	brought in by
BIBA	brought in by ambulance
BID bid b.i.d.	twice a day (from Latin bis in die)
Bilat eq	bilaterally equal
BiPAP	bilevel positive airway pressure
BIS	Bispectral index
BiVAD	bilateral ventricular assist device (left and right)
BK	bradykinin
BKA	below-the-knee amputation
b/l	bilateral
BL	Burkitt's lymphoma
bl.cult	blood culture
bld	blood
BLE	Bilateral Lower Extremity (in/on both legs).
BLS	basic life support
BM	bone marrow bowel movement breast milk Capillary blood glucose (British medical colloquialism originating from Boehringer Mannheim, a manufacturer of early glucose meters, today a part of Boehringer Ingelheim.)
BMBx	Bone marrow biopsy
BMC	bone mineral content
BMD	bone mineral density (also termed bone mass measurement)
BMI	body mass index
BMP	basic metabolic panel
BMR	basal metabolic rate
BMS	Bare-metal stent
BMT	bone marrow transplantation
BNO	bowel not open
BNP	brain natriuretic peptide
BO	bowel open
B/O	because of
BOA	born out of asepsis
BOI	born on island (i.e. a local patient)
BOLT	Bilateral Orthotopic Lung Transplant
BOM	bilateral otitis media
BOOP	bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia
BP	blood pressure British Pharmacopoeia
BPAD	bipolar affective disorder
BPCA	best pharmaceuticals for children act
BPD	biparietal diameter borderline personality disorder bronchopulmonary dysplasia
BPH	benign prostatic hyperplasia/benign prostatic hypertrophy
BPM	beats per minute
BPP	biophysical profile
BPPV	benign paroxysmal positional vertigo
BPSD	Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia
BR	bedrest bathroom
BRA	bilateral renal agenesis
BRAT	The BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, toast (helps digestion in some GI disorders)
BRATY	another version of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, toast, yogurt (helps digestion in some GI disorders)
BRB	bright red blood (color is important as an indicator of source, for example in gastrointestinal bleeding)
BRBPR	bright red blood per rectum
BRCA1 (gene) BRCA1 (protein)	breast cancer 1 (a human gene and its protein)
BRCA2 (gene) BRCA2 (protein)	breast cancer 2 (a human gene and its protein)
BRP	bathroom privileges
BRTO	Balloon-Occluded Retrograde Transvenous Obliteration
BRVO	Branch retinal vein occlusion
BS	breath breath sound bowel sounds (on auscultation using a stethoscope) blood sugar body secretions
BS x 4 quads	bowel signs in all 4 quadrants (also sometimes "BS + all 4 quads")
BSx	B-symptoms
BSA	body surface area bovine serum albumin
BSC	bedside commode
BSE	bovine spongiform encephalopathy breast self-examination
BSL	blood sugar level
BSO	bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy
BSP	bromsulphthalein
BSU	Bartholin, Skene and urethra (glands)
BT	bleeding time brachytherapy
BTB	breakthrough bleeding of menstrual period
BTL	bilateral tubal ligation
BTP	breakthrough pain
BTT	bridge to transplantation
BUN	blood urea nitrogen
BV	bacterial vaginosis
BVM	bag valve mask (Ambu bag)
BVP	biventricular pacing (see artificial pacemaker) bleomycin, vincristine, and cisplatin (chemotherapy regimen)
BW	blood work (blood tests) birth weight
Bx	biopsy
BZDs	benzodiazepines