Medical abbreviations that have contradictory or ambiguous meanings

Introduction Abbreviations are a convenience, a time saver, and a way of fitting a word or phrase into a restricted space or avoiding the possibility of misspelling words. [...] To expand the list of abbreviations, I contacted hospitals and requested lists of abbreviations that were used at their facility, searched the literature, and solicited readers to send me abbreviations. [...] This list is a very important step in the right direction but does not solve the systemic problem of an abbreviation with contradictory or ambiguous meanings.3 The Joint Commission standards also state, if multiple abbreviations exist for the same term, the organization must identify which one will be used to eliminate ambiguity.4 This step is extremely difficult to achieve. [...] A recognized health-related organization, such as USP, the American Medical Association, the Council of Science Editors, ISMP, or ECRI, would have to be funded to take responsibility for creating and maintaining such a list. [...] The one responsible for the list would have to reach out to all the health-related organizations to suggest abbreviations that should be on this list.