Listening Traps

Some whole forms sound alike or carry more than one meaning depending on context.

  • "sat" versus "stat": "His sat is 88" refers to oxygen saturation. "Get CT stat" means immediately.
  • "epi": In a drug order, this often means epinephrine. Inside epidural or epigastric, epi- means upon/above.
  • "MI": In cardiac dialogue, myocardial infarction/heart attack. Do not assume every two-letter abbreviation is universal.
  • "PE": Often pulmonary embolism in emergency dialogue; it can mean physical examination elsewhere.
  • "negative": "Troponin is negative" means the marker was not detected/elevated by that test, not that every heart problem is excluded.
  • "stable": A patient can be stable and still be critically ill.
  • "rule out": "Rule out stroke" means stroke remains under investigation.
  • "shock": The circulatory condition and an electrical defibrillator shock are different meanings.
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