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

• B

  • blood type (ABO system)

  • boron

  • B symptoms

  • class of vitamins

• Ba: barium

• BAC: bronchioloalveolar carcinoma

• BAD: branch atheromatous disease

• BADASS: biochemical abnormality of doubtful actual sense or significance

• BAE: bronchial artery embolization

• BAHA: bone-anchored hearing aid

• BAL

  • blood alcohol level

  • bronchoalveolar lavage

• B-ALL: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

• BARP: British Association for the Advancement of Radiology and Physiotherapy

• BAV: bicuspid aortic valve

• BBA: blood blister-like aneuyrsm

• BBB

  • balloon breast brachytherapy

  • blood brain barrier

  • bundle branch block

• BBFA: both bone forearm fracture

• BBFF: both bone forearm fracture

• BBT: basal body temperature

• BC

  • blood culture

  • bone conduction

• BCC

  • basal cell carcinoma

  • branchial cleft cyst

• BCG: bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine

• BCI: bicaudate index

• BCT: broad complex tachycardia

• BCV: brachiocephalic vein

• BCVI: blunt cerebrovascular injury

• BD: twice a day (drug prescriptions, Latin: bis in die)

• BDFL: benevolent dictator for life

• BD-IPMN: branch duct type - intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm

• BDR: background diabetic retinopathy

• BE

  • barium enema

  • base excess

• Be: beryllium

• Benzo: benzodiazepine

• BERT: background equivalent radiation time

• BeS: beryllium sensitization

• BG

  • basal ganglia

  • blood glucose

• bHCG: beta human chorionic gonadotropin

• BHD: Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome

• BHR: Birmingham hip resurfacing

• Bi: bismuth

• BIAD: blind insertion airway device

• BIBA: brought in by ambulance

• bicarb: sodium bicarbonate

• BID

  • brought in dead

  • twice a day (drug prescriptions, Latin: bis in die)

• bil dil: biliary (duct) dilatation

• BIMT: blunt intestinal and mesenteric trauma

• BiPAP: bilevel positive airway pressure

• BIR: British Institute of Radiology

• BI-RADS: breast imaging - reporting and data system

• BiTE: bi-specific T-cell engager

• BiVAD: biventricular assist device

• BJP: Bence-Jones proteins

• BJR: British Journal of Radiology

• BK

  • band keratopathy

  • bradykinesia

  • bradykinin

• Bk: berkelium

• BKA: below-the-knee amputation

• BL: Burkitt lymphoma

• B/L: bilateral

• Bld: blood

• BLS: basic life support

• BLUE: bedside lung ultrasound in emergency

• BM

  • Bachelor of Medicine

  • blood sugar (named after Boehringer Mannheim, company which developed the BM test strip)

  • bone marrow

  • bowel movement/motion

• BMAT: bone marrow aspiration and trephine

• BMD

  • Becker muscular dystrophy

  • bone mineral density

• BME: bone marrow edema

• BMI: body mass index

• BMO: bone marrow edema

• B-mode: brightness mode (ultrasound)

• BMP

  • basic metabolic panel

  • bitmap (image/file)

• BMR: basic metabolic rate

• BMS

  • bare metal stent

  • bowel management system

• BMT: bone marrow transplant

• BNF: British National Formulary

• BNO: bowel not opening

• BNP: brain natriuretic peptide

• BO

  • bowel opening

  • branchio-otic syndrome

• B/O: because of

• BOFS: branchio-oculo-facial syndrome

• BOLD: blood oxygenation level dependent contrast

• BOM: bilateral otitis media

• BoNT/A: botulinum toxin A

• BOO: bladder outlet obstruction

• BOOP: bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia

• BOR: branchio-oto-renal syndrome

• BOS

  • base of skull

  • bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome

• BOS1: branchiootic syndrome 1

• BOSD: bottom of sulcus dysplasia

• BOT: base of tongue

• BP

  • base pair

  • Bell palsy

  • bipolar disorder

  • blood pressure

  • British Pharmacopoeia

• BPA: balloon pulmonary angioplasty

• BPAD: bipolar affective disorder

• BPD

  • biliopancreatic diversion

  • biparietal diameter

  • bipolar disorder

  • borderline-personality disorder

  • bronchopulmonary dysplasia

• BPDCN: blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm

• BPE: benign prostatic enlargement

• BPG: bypass graft

• BPH

  • benign prostatic hyperplasia

  • benign prostatic hypertrophy

• BPI: best possible image

• BPM: beats per minute

• BPOP: bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation

• BPPV: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

• BPSD: behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia

• BPV: benign positional vertigo

• Bq: becquerel

• Br: bromine

• BRAO: branch retinal artery occlusion

• BRBPR: bright red blood per rectum

• BRCA: breast cancer

• BRCA1: breast cancer 1 (gene/protein)

• BRCA2: breast cancer 2 (gene/protein)

• BRET: background radiation equivalent time

• BRIC: benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis

• BRICS: Bronchiectasis Radiologically Indexed CT Score

• Bronch: bronchoscopy

• BRONJ: bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw

• BRVO: branch retinal vein occlusion

• BS

  • Bachelor of Surgery

  • Boerhaave syndrome

• BSA: body surface area

• BSc: Bachelor of Science

• BSF: basal skull fracture

• BSI: bloodstream infection

• BSL

  • blood sugar level

  • British sign language

• BSO: bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy

• bSSFP: balanced steady state free precession

• BSSO: bilateral sagittal split osteotomy

• BST: basic surgical training (UK)

• BT

  • bleeding time

  • bony tenderness

• BTB: believed to be

• BTM: Biodegradable Temporising Matrix (full-thickness burns treatment)

• BTS

  • Blalock-Taussig shunt

  • British Thoracic Society

• BTV: biological target volume 

• BUN: blood urea nitrogen

• BV: bacterial vaginosis

• BVNA: basivertebral nerve ablation

• BW

  • bandwidth

  • birth weight

• Bx: biopsy