This article contains a list of commonly used medical abbreviations and acronyms that start with the letter D 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

• D

  • aspartic acid (single letter amino acid code)

  • day

  • diarrhea

  • distal

  • dorsal 

• d: deci- (SI unit prefix for a factor of one-tenth)

• D1, D2, D3, D4: 1^st - 4^th parts of the duodenum

• D1, D2, etc.: day one post op, day two post op, etc.

• D1, D2, D3: diagonal branches of the left anterior descending artery

• D1-D12: dorsal vertebrae (alternative to T1-T12)

• D&C: dilation and curettage

• DA: dopamine

• Da: dalton

• da: deca-  (SI unit prefix for a factor of ten)

• DAD: diffuse alveolar damage

• DAH: diffuse alveolar hemorrhage

• DAI: diffuse axonal injury

• DAIR: debridement, antibiotics and implant retention

• DAMA: discharge against medical advice

• DAP: dose area product

• DAPLD: domestically acquired particulate lung disease

• DAPT: dual antiplatelet therapy

• DAS: dead / death / deceased at scene

• DAT: dopamine active transporter (DaTSCAN)

• DAVF: dural arteriovenous fistula

• dB: decibel

• DBD: donation after brain death

• DBP: diastolic blood pressure

• DBS: deep brain stimulation

• DBT: distal biceps tendon

• DC

  • descending colon

  • direct current

  • discharge

• D&C: dilation and curettage

• D/C: discharge

• DCD: donation after circulatory death

• DCC: direct current cardioversion

• DCCV: direct current cardioversion

• DCD: donation before cardiac death

• DCDA: dichorionic diamniotic

• DCE: dynamic contrast enhancement

• DCG: dacryocystogram

• DCI

  • decompression illness

  • delayed cerebral ischemia

• DCIA: deep circumflex iliac artery

• DCIS: ductal carcinoma in situ

• DCM: dilated cardiomyopathy

• DCR

  • dacryocystorhinostomy

  • digitized chest radiograph

• DD

  • differential diagnosis

  • diverticular disease

  • duodenal diverticulum

• DDD

  • degenerative disc disease

  • dense deposit disease

  • dual pacing, dual sensing and dual response pacemaker mode

• DDK: dysdiadochokinesia

• DDLPS: dedifferentiated liposarcoma

• DDMFR: Diploma in Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology (UK)

• DDx: differential diagnosis

• DEB

  • drug-eluting balloon

  • drug-eluting bead

• DEB-TACE: drug-eluting bead transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation

• DECRA: decompressive craniectomy

• DECT: dual-energy CT

• defib: defibrillator

• DENV: dengue viruses

• deoxyHb: deoxygenated hemoglobin

• DES

  • diethylstilbestrol

  • drug-eluting stent

• DESS: double echo steady state sequence

• DEXA: dual energy x-ray absorptiometry

• DF118: dihydrocodeine (common name in the UK)

• DFI: diabetic foot infection

• DFM: decreased foetal movements

• DFR: distal femoral replacement

• DFU: diabetic foot ulcer

• DFV: domestic and family violence

• DGA: descending genicular artery

• DGCT: dentinogenic ghost cell tumor

• DGE: delayed gastric emptying

• dGEMRIC: delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage

• DGH: district general hospital (UK)

• DHEAS: dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate

• DHS: dual heart sounds

• DI: diabetes insipidus

• DIB: difficulty in breathing

• DIC: disseminated intravascular coagulation

• DICOM: Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine

• DIE: deep infiltrating endometriosis

• DIEP: deep inferior epigastric perforators

• DIH: direct inguinal hernia

• DIL: drug-induced lupus erythematosus

• DILI: drug-induced liver injury

• DIOS: distal intestinal obstruction syndrome

• DIP: desquamative interstitial pneumonia

• DIPH: delayed intraparenchymal hemorrhage

• DIPI: direct intraperitoneal insemination

• DIPJ: distal interphalangeal joint

• DIPNECH: diffuse idiopathic neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia

• DIR: double inversion recovery

• DISH: diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis

• DISI: dorsal intercalated segment instability

• DJBL: duodenal–jejunal bypass liner

• DJD: degenerative joint disease

• DJF: duodenojejunal flexure

• DKA: diabetic ketoacidosis

• DLBCL: diffuse large B cell lymphoma

• DLB: dementia with Lewy bodies

• DLC: discoligamentous complex

• DLCO: diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide

• DLP

  • dose-length product

  • double-layered patella

• DLCNS: Dutch Lipid Clinic Network Score

• DM

  • dermatomyositis

  • diabetes mellitus

  • myotonic dystrophy

• DMAA: distal metatarsal articular angle

• DMBSG: diffuse midline brainstem glioma

• DMD: Duchenne muscular dystrophy

• DMRD: Diploma in Medical Radiodiagnosis

• DMRE: Diploma in Medical Radiology and Electrology

• DMS: diagnostic medical sonography

• DMSA: dimercaptosuccinic acid

• DMVO: distal medium vessel occlusion

• DNA

  • deoxyribonucleic acid

  • did not attend

• DNAR: do not attempt resuscitation

• DNB: Diplomate of National Board

• DNC

  • death by neurological criteria

  • dilation and curettage

• DNES: diffuse neuroendocrine system

• DNET: dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor

• DNR: do not resuscitate

• DNS: deviated nasal septum

• DOA: dead on arrival

• DOAC: direct oral anticoagulant

• DOB: date of birth

• DOE: dyspnea on exertion

• DOI:

  • digital object identifier

  • date of injury

• DOOR: DOOR syndrome (deafness, onychodystrophy, osteodystrophy, and mental retardation)

• DORV: double outlet right ventricle

• DOT: directly observed therapy

• DOTA: 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid

• DP: distal phalanx

• DPA: dorsalis pedis artery

• DPH: diffuse pulmonary hemorrhage

• DPS: double pigtail stent

• DPT: diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus (vaccine)

• DPPTL: deep posterior tibiotalar ligament

• DR: distal radius

• DR: delayed ratio

• DRE

  • digital rectal examination

  • drug-resistant (refractory) epilepsy

• DRESS: drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms

• DRG

  • diagnosis-related group

  • dorsal root ganglion

• DRL: diagnostic reference level

• DRPLA: dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy​

• DRR: digitally reconstructed radiographs

• DRUJ: distal radioulnar joint

• DS

  • Down syndrome

  • Dressler syndrome

• DSA: digital subtraction angiography

• dSAE: distal splenic artery embolization

• DSE: dobutamine stress echocardiography

• DSM

  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

  • dural sinus malformation

• DSM-V: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

• DSPA: digital subtraction pulmonary angiography

• DSWI: deep sternal wound infection

• DT: delirium tremens

• DTaP: diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (vaccine)

• DTI: diffusion tensor imaging

• DTP: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (vaccine)

• DTPA: diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid

• DTR: deep tendon reflexes

• DTS: double tissue sampling

• DTT: diffusion tensor tractography

• DU: duodenal ulcer

• DV

  • domestic violence

  • ductus venosus

• DVA: developmental venous anomaly

• DVD

  • digital versatile disc

  • digital video disc

• DVP: deepest vertical pocket

• DVST: dural venous sinus thrombosis

• DVT: deep vein thrombosis

• D/W: discussion with

• DWI: diffusion weighted imaging

• DWM: Dandy-Walker malformation

• Dx: diagnosis

• DXA: dual energy x-ray absorptiometry

• DXT: deep x-ray therapy

• Dy: dysprosium

• DZ: dizygote