The Agony of Acronyms

If you read a lot of articles about medicine, as I do, you will see many acronyms in the text.  It can be very frustrating when an author uses lots of acronyms in their writings, especially for folks who are just wanting to learn more about a given medical condition.  I have been reading these articles for years and I have to say this newfangled way of writing can be a pain--no pun intended!

For that reason, I decided it might be nice to create a post with some of the more common acronyms in texts about pain management.  I will do my best to at least give you a "heads up" about specific acronyms as I use them.  In this way, you will at least have a way to understand what I am talking about!

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So, without further ado, here is a short list of common terms you might see in medical writings and doctor's notes regarding pain management issues.

Acronym                               Definition

CNS                                       Central Nervous System

COX-2 Inhibitor                   A specific subtype of NSAID that helps control pain

                                             by inhibiting cyclooxyrgenase 2 (an enzyme in the human body 

                                             that is involved in pain and inflammation process.

                                             (example: celecoxib)

CT                                         Computerized Tomography

CAM                                    Complementary and Alternative Medicine

DJD                                      Degenerative Joint Disease

DMARD                              Disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug

                                             (example: Remicade®)

MRI                                     Magnetic Resonance Imaging

NPS                                     Numerical Pain Scale

NSAID                                Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug 

                                            (examples: ibuprofen, naproxen)

OA                                       Osteoarthritis

(O)PQRST                         A medical descriptive evaluation as to Onset,           

                                           Provocation,Region affected, Severity and Time (History)

RA                                     Rheumatoid arthritis

SNRI                                 Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor

                                          (example: venlafaxine)

SSRI                                 Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor

                                         (example: fluoexitine)

TENS                               Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation