Medication Route Abbreviations
41 abbreviations · part of Medical Abbreviations
Route abbreviations tell nurses, pharmacists and patients how a medicine enters the body: by mouth (PO), into a vein (IV), into muscle (IM), under the skin (subcut), into the eye or ear, through a feeding tube or by inhalation. The route changes how fast and how completely a drug is absorbed, so a dose that is safe by one route can be dangerous by another. Several route abbreviations, including SC, SQ, IN and the eye and ear forms OD, OS, AD and AS, are on the ISMP list of error-prone abbreviations, and ISMP recommends writing "subcut", "intranasal", "right eye" or "left ear" instead.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AD | Auris dextra (right ear) | Otic abbreviation meaning the right ear, used in ear drop orders and audiology records. |
| AS | Auris sinistra (left ear) | Abbreviation for the left ear in medication orders and hearing test records. |
| AU | Auris utraque (each ear, both ears) | Otic instruction meaning both ears, used for ear drops and in audiology. |
| CIVI | Continuous intravenous infusion | Uninterrupted IV administration of a drug over hours or days by pump, used for chemotherapy agents such as fluorouracil, for insulin and heparin drips, and for… |
| ET | Endotracheal | Route for giving certain emergency drugs down an endotracheal tube when no IV or IO access is available. |
| GT | Gastrostomy tube | Feeding and medication route through a tube placed directly through the abdominal wall into the stomach, by endoscopy (PEG), radiology or surgery. |
| IA | Intra-articular | Injection of a drug directly into a joint space, most often a corticosteroid such as triamcinolone or methylprednisolone, hyaluronic acid or a local anesthetic, to… |
| ICV | Intracerebroventricular | Route that delivers a drug directly into the fluid-filled ventricles of the brain, through an implanted reservoir such as an Ommaya device. |
| ID | Intradermal | Injection into the dermis, just beneath the epidermis, producing a small raised bleb. |
| IJ | Injection | Rarely used shorthand for an injection that ISMP lists as error-prone because "IJ" has been read as "IV" or as "intrajugular", sending a drug by the wrong route. |
| IL | Intralesional | Injection of a drug directly into a skin lesion or tumor, such as triamcinolone into keloids, alopecia areata patches or acne cysts, candida antigen into warts, or… |
| IM | Intramuscular | Injection into a muscle, commonly the deltoid, ventrogluteal or vastus lateralis site. |
| IN | Intranasal | Route that sprays or atomizes a drug onto the nasal mucosa for local or rapid systemic absorption. |
| INH | Inhalation | Route in which a drug is breathed into the lungs as an aerosol or powder from a metered-dose inhaler, dry-powder inhaler or nebulizer, acting directly on the airways… |
| inj | Injection | Label and order abbreviation for a drug given by needle and syringe or as an injectable product, as in "ceftriaxone inj" or "insulin inj". |
| IO | Intraosseous | Emergency route in which a needle is drilled or pushed into bone marrow, usually the proximal tibia or humeral head, giving rapid access to the circulation when veins… |
| IP | Intraperitoneal | Administration of drugs or fluids into the peritoneal cavity. |
| IT | Intrathecal | Delivery of a drug into the cerebrospinal fluid of the spinal canal, by lumbar puncture, an Ommaya reservoir or an implanted pump. |
| IV | Intravenous | Delivery of a drug or fluid directly into a vein, giving complete and immediate availability in the bloodstream. |
| IVP | Intravenous push | Injection of a medication from a syringe directly into an IV line or catheter over a short period, usually seconds to a few minutes. |
| IVPB | Intravenous piggyback | Small-volume infusion, typically 50 to 250 mL, connected as a secondary line to the main IV tubing and run over 15 to 60 minutes, most often for antibiotics and… |
| NEB | Nebulizer, nebulized | Treatment in which a liquid medicine is turned into a fine mist by a jet or mesh nebulizer and inhaled through a mouthpiece or mask over several minutes. |
| NG | Nasogastric | Describes a tube passed through the nose and esophagus into the stomach, used to decompress the stomach in bowel obstruction or ileus, to give feeds or medications, and… |
| NJ | Nasojejunal | Feeding tube passed through the nose, stomach and duodenum into the jejunum, used for feeding and medication when the stomach must be bypassed, as in severe… |
| OD | Oculus dexter (right eye) | Ophthalmic abbreviation for the right eye, used in eye-drop orders, eyeglass prescriptions and eye exam records. |
| OG | Orogastric | Tube passed through the mouth into the stomach to give medicines and feeds or to decompress the stomach. |
| ophth | Ophthalmic | Label and order term identifying a product made for use in the eye, such as drops, gels or ointments. |
| OS | Oculus sinister (left eye) | Ophthalmic abbreviation for the left eye, seen in eye drop orders, visual acuity records and eyeglass prescriptions. |
| OU | Oculus uterque (each eye, both eyes) | Ophthalmic instruction meaning both eyes, used for eye drops and on glasses and contact lens prescriptions. |
| PCA | Patient-controlled analgesia | Pain-control method in which a programmable pump lets the patient press a button to self-administer small IV opioid doses, within limits set by the prescriber: dose… |
| PCEA | Patient-controlled epidural analgesia | Variation of PCA in which the patient triggers extra doses through an epidural catheter, usually a dilute local anesthetic such as bupivacaine or ropivacaine combined… |
| PO | Per os (by mouth, orally) | The oral route: the medicine is swallowed and absorbed through the digestive tract. |
| PR | Per rectum (rectally) | Administration of a drug into the rectum, usually as a suppository, enema or gel. |
| PV | Per vaginam (vaginally) | Route for medicines inserted into the vagina, including creams, tablets, rings, gels and pessaries used for infections, hormone therapy and labor induction. |
| SC | Subcutaneous | Older abbreviation for injection into the fatty layer under the skin, the route for insulin, heparin, enoxaparin and many biologics. |
| SL | Sublingual | Route in which a tablet, film or spray is placed under the tongue to dissolve and be absorbed through the oral mucosa directly into the bloodstream. |
| SQ | Subcutaneous | Abbreviation for an injection given into the tissue under the skin, as for insulin and heparin. |
| subcut | Subcutaneous | The form ISMP recommends for subcutaneous dosing, replacing SC, SQ and sub q. |
| SubQ | Subcutaneous | Common spelling of the subcutaneous route seen on consumer drug labels, patient instructions and charts. |
| TD | Transdermal | Delivery of a drug through intact skin into the bloodstream, usually from an adhesive patch that releases medicine steadily over one to seven days. |
| top | Topical | Application of a drug to the skin or a mucous membrane for local effect, as with creams, ointments, gels, lotions and solutions. |
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