Anesthesia Abbreviations
34 abbreviations · part of Medical Abbreviations
Abbreviations used by anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists and perioperative teams for types of anesthesia, airway devices and techniques, regional nerve blocks, monitoring, preoperative risk scores and anesthetic complications. They appear in pre-anesthesia evaluations, intraoperative records and recovery notes. Doses and thresholds mentioned are illustrative only, since anesthetic care is individualized and governed by institutional protocols.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ASA | American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification | Six-level grading of a patient's overall health before anesthesia: ASA I healthy, II mild systemic disease, III severe systemic disease, IV severe systemic disease that… |
| BIS | Bispectral index | Processed electroencephalogram value from 0 to 100 displayed during anesthesia, where 100 is fully awake and about 40 to 60 is usually targeted during general anesthesia. |
| CICO | Can't intubate, can't oxygenate | Airway emergency in which attempts at intubation, face mask ventilation and supraglottic airway placement have all failed and oxygen saturation is falling. |
| CSE | Combined spinal-epidural | Neuraxial technique in which an epidural needle is placed, a thin spinal needle is passed through it to inject a small dose into the cerebrospinal fluid, and an… |
| DL | Direct laryngoscopy | Intubation technique in which the operator views the vocal cords along a direct line of sight using a laryngoscope with a Macintosh or Miller blade. |
| eFONA | Emergency front-of-neck access | Creation of a surgical airway through the cricothyroid membrane when all other methods of oxygenation have failed. |
| ESP | Erector spinae plane (block) | Ultrasound-guided fascial plane block that deposits local anesthetic beneath the erector spinae muscle beside the spine, spreading to several spinal nerve levels. |
| EtCO2 | End-tidal carbon dioxide | Concentration or partial pressure of carbon dioxide at the end of each exhalation, measured continuously by capnography, normally about 35 to 45 mmHg. |
| ETT | Endotracheal tube | Plastic tube placed through the mouth or nose into the trachea to secure the airway and allow mechanical ventilation during general anesthesia or critical illness. |
| FOI | Fiberoptic intubation | Intubation using a flexible bronchoscope, usually with the patient awake and the airway numbed with local anesthetic, so the tube can be guided through the vocal cords… |
| GA | General anesthesia | Drug-induced, reversible state of unconsciousness in which patients do not respond to pain and usually need help keeping the airway open and breathing. |
| GETA | General endotracheal anesthesia | General anesthesia with the airway secured by an endotracheal tube, standard for long operations, laparoscopy, prone positioning, airway surgery and patients at risk of… |
| ISB | Interscalene brachial plexus block | Peripheral nerve block injecting local anesthetic around the upper roots of the brachial plexus between the anterior and middle scalene muscles of the neck, giving… |
| LA | Local anesthesia (local anesthetic) | Numbing of a small area by injecting or applying a sodium channel-blocking drug such as lidocaine or bupivacaine, or the drug itself. |
| LAST | Local anesthetic systemic toxicity | Rare but potentially fatal reaction when local anesthetic reaches high blood levels, usually after accidental intravascular injection or excessive doses. |
| LMA | Laryngeal mask airway | Supraglottic airway device with an inflatable or gel mask that sits over the larynx, inserted blindly through the mouth without entering the trachea. |
| Mac | Macintosh | Apple's line of personal computers running macOS, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro. |
| MH | Malignant hyperthermia | Rare, life-threatening inherited reaction in which volatile inhaled anesthetics or succinylcholine trigger uncontrolled calcium release in skeletal muscle, causing… |
| NMB | Neuromuscular blockade (blocker) | Drug-induced paralysis of skeletal muscle used to facilitate intubation and surgery, or the drugs that produce it. |
| NORA | Non-operating room anesthesia | Anesthesia care delivered outside the traditional operating room, such as in endoscopy suites, cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology labs, interventional… |
| PDPH | Post-dural puncture headache | Headache after a puncture of the dura from spinal anesthesia, lumbar puncture or an accidental puncture during epidural placement, caused by leakage of cerebrospinal… |
| PNB | Peripheral nerve block | Injection of local anesthetic near a specific nerve or plexus, usually under ultrasound guidance, to numb a limb or body region for surgery or pain control. |
| PONV | Postoperative nausea and vomiting | Nausea, retching or vomiting in the first 24 to 48 hours after surgery, affecting about 30 percent of surgical patients overall and up to around 80 percent of those at… |
| RCRI | Revised Cardiac Risk Index | Six-factor tool estimating the risk of major cardiac complications after noncardiac surgery: high-risk surgery, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, cerebrovascular… |
| SAB | Subarachnoid block (spinal anesthesia) | Neuraxial anesthesia produced by injecting local anesthetic, often with an opioid, directly into the cerebrospinal fluid of the lumbar subarachnoid space. |
| SGA | Supraglottic airway | Category of airway devices that sit above the vocal cords to allow ventilation without entering the trachea, including laryngeal mask airways, the i-gel and laryngeal… |
| STOP-Bang | Snoring, Tiredness, Observed apnea, Pressure, BMI, Age, Neck size, Gender (questionnaire) | Eight-item screening questionnaire for obstructive sleep apnea used before surgery, scoring snoring, daytime tiredness, observed apneas, high blood pressure, BMI over… |
| Sux | Succinylcholine | Anesthesia shorthand for succinylcholine, the only depolarizing neuromuscular blocker in clinical use, valued for rapid onset (about 60 seconds) and short duration… |
| TAP | Transversus abdominis plane (block) | Regional anesthesia technique that injects local anesthetic under ultrasound guidance between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles, numbing nerves of… |
| TCI | Target-controlled infusion | Computerized infusion system that uses pharmacokinetic models to adjust intravenous anesthetic delivery, typically propofol and remifentanil, so a chosen concentration… |
| TIVA | Total intravenous anesthesia | General anesthesia induced and maintained entirely with intravenous drugs, typically a propofol infusion combined with an opioid such as remifentanil, without inhaled… |
| TOF | Train-of-four | Nerve stimulation test that delivers four electrical pulses at 2 Hz, usually to the ulnar nerve, and counts or measures the resulting thumb twitches to gauge… |
| VAE | Venous air embolism | Entry of air into the venous circulation, from where it can travel to the heart and lungs and cause low blood pressure, hypoxia and cardiac arrest. |
| VL | Video laryngoscopy | Intubation with a laryngoscope that has a camera near the blade tip and displays the larynx on a screen, letting the operator see around the curve of the tongue without… |
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