| 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 Board certified | |
| 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 | |
| BDS | two times a day (from Latin bis die sumendus) | |
| 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) | |
| BF | breastfeeding | |
| 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 | Barium Swallow breath breath sound bowel sounds (on auscultation using a stethoscope) blood sugar | |
| 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 |