This article contains a list of commonly used medical abbreviations and acronyms that start with the letter B and may be encountered in medicine and radiology (please keep both the main list and any sublists in alphabetic order).
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z - misc
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B
Ba: barium
BADASS: biochemical abnormality of doubtful actual sense or significance
BAE: bronchial artery embolization
BAHA: bone-anchored hearing aid
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BAL
blood alcohol level
bronchoalveolar lavage
BARP: British Association for the Advancement of Radiology and Physiotherapy
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BBB
bundle branch block
BBFA: both bone forearm fracture
BBFF: both bone forearm fracture
BBT: basal body temperature
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BC
blood culture
bone conduction
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BCC
BCI: bicaudate index
BCT: broad complex tachycardia
BCV: brachiocephalic vein
BD: twice a day (drug prescriptions, Latin: bis in die)
BD-IPMN: branch duct type - intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm
BDR: background diabetic retinopathy
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BE
base excess
Be: beryllium
Benzo: benzodiazepine
BERT: background equivalent radiation time
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BG
blood glucose
BHR: Birmingham hip resurfacing
Bi: bismuth
BIAD: blind insertion airway device
BIBA: brought in by ambulance
bicarb: sodium bicarbonate
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BID
brought in dead
twice a day (drug prescriptions, Latin: bis in die)
bil dil: biliary (duct) dilatation
BiPAP: bilevel positive airway pressure
BiTE: bi-specific T-cell engager
BiVAD: biventricular assist device
BJP: Bence-Jones proteins
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BK
band keratopathy
bradykinesia
bradykinin
Bk: berkelium
BL: Burkitt lymphoma
B/L: bilateral
Bld: blood
BLS: basic life support
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BM
Bachelor of Medicine
blood sugar (named after Boehringer Mannheim, company which developed the BM test strip)
bowel movement/motion
BMAT: bone marrow aspiration and trephine
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BMD
BME: bone marrow edema
BMI: body mass index
BMO: bone marrow edema
B-mode: brightness mode (ultrasound)
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BMP
basic metabolic panel
bitmap (image/file)
BMR: basic metabolic rate
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BMS
bowel management system
BNF: British National Formulary
BNO: bowel not opening
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BO
bowel opening
B/O: because of
BOLD: blood oxygenation level dependent contrast
BOM: bilateral otitis media
BoNT/A: botulinum toxin A
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BOS
base of skull
BOS1: branchiootic syndrome 1
BOT: base of tongue
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BP
base pair
British Pharmacopoeia
BPA: balloon pulmonary angioplasty
BPAD: bipolar affective disorder
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BPD
borderline-personality disorder
BPG: bypass graft
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BPH
BPI: best possible image
BPM: beats per minute
BPSD: behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia
Bq: becquerel
Br: bromine
BRBPR: bright red blood per rectum
BRCA: breast cancer
BRCA1: breast cancer 1 (gene/protein)
BRCA2: breast cancer 2 (gene/protein)
Bronch: bronchoscopy
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BS
Bachelor of Surgery
BSA: body surface area
BSc: Bachelor of Science
BSF: basal skull fracture
BSI: bloodstream infection
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BSL
blood sugar level
British sign language
BSO: bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy
bSSFP: balanced steady state free precession
BST: basic surgical training (UK)
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BT
bleeding time
bony tenderness
BTB: believed to be
BTM: Biodegradable Temporising Matrix (full-thickness burns treatment)
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BTS
British Thoracic Society
BTV: biological target volume
BUN: blood urea nitrogen
BV: bacterial vaginosis
BVNA: basivertebral nerve ablation
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BW
bandwidth
birth weight
Bx: biopsy