Medical abbreviations and acronyms (S)

This article contains a list of commonly used medical abbreviations and acronyms that start with the letter S and may be encountered in medicine and radiology (please keep the main list and any sublists in alphabetic order).

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• S
  • sacral
  • second (SI unit of time)
  • sulfur
• S₁-S₄: first, second, third, fourth heart sounds
• S100
• SA
  • semen analysis
  • sinoatrial
• SAA: serum amyloid A
• SAB: subacromial bursa
• SABA: short-acting beta-2 agonist (e.g. salbutamol)
• SABR: stereotactic ablative radiotherapy
• SACT: systemic anti-cancer therapy
• SAD: seasonal affective disorder
• SAE: sepsis-associated encephalopathy
• Sag: sagittal
• SAH: subarachnoid haemorrhage
• SALT: speech and language therapy
• SAM: segmental arterial mediolysis
• SAN: sinoatrial node
• S&S: signs and symptoms
• SAPHO: synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis, osteitis
• SAR: specific absorption rate
• SARS: severe acute respiratory syndrome
• SARS-CoV-1: severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-1
• SARS-CoV-2: severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2
• SB
  • small bowel
  • spectral broadening
  • stillbirth
• Sb: antimony (Latin: stibium)
• SBC: simple bone cyst
• SBE: subacute bacterial endocarditis
• SBF: small bowel follow through
• SBFT: small bowel follow through
• SBO: small bowel obstruction
• SBP
  • spontaneous bacterial peritonitis
  • systolic blood pressure
• SBPL: spontaneous bacterial pleuritis
• SBRT: stereotactic body radiotherapy
• SBS: seat belt sign
• SC
  • spinal cord
  • subcutaneous
• Sc: scandium
• SCA
  • sickle cell anaemia
  • subclavian artery
  • superior cerebellar artery
• SCAD: spontaneous coronary artery dissection
• SCC:
  • semicircular canal
  • spinal cord compression
  • squamous cell cancer
  • squamous cell carcinoma
• SCCD: semicircular canal dehiscence
• SCD
  • sickle cell disease
  • sudden cardiac death
• SCDO: spondylocostal dysostosis
• SCI: spinal cord injury
• SCIWORA: spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality
• SCJ: sternoclavicular joint
• SCLC: small cell lung cancer
• SCM: sternocleidomastoid
• SCoR: Society and College of Radiographers (UK)
• SCORIF: stimulated cycle oocyte retrieval in [office] fertilisation
• SCS: spinal cord stimulator
• SCT: stem cell transplant
• SCV: subclavian vein
• SD
  • septal deviation
  • stable disease (malignant disease/RECIST)
  • standard deviation
• SDASH: shunt-dependency in symptomatic aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage score
• SDD: surfactant deficiency disorder
• SDEC: same-day emergency care
• SDH: subdural haemorrhage
• SE
  • side-effect
  • spin echo
  • status epilepticus
• Se: selenium
• Sec: second
• SEE: septic-embolic encephalitis
• SEEG: stereoelectroencephalography 
• SeHCAT: selenium homocholic acid taurine
• SEMAC: slice-encoding for metal artifact correction (Siemens)
• SEMS: self-expandable metallic stent
• SEP: superior end-plate (vertebral body)
• Ser: serine
• sestamibi: sesta-methoxyisobutylisonitrile
• SFA: superficial femoral artery
• SFH: symphyseal fundal height
• SFLC: serum free light chains
• SFV: superficial femoral vein (femoral vein preferred)
• SGA: supraglottic airway
• SGC: Swan-Ganz catheter
• SGHL: superior glenohumeral ligament
• SH
  • Salter-Harris
  • social history
• SHG: sonohysterogram
• SHO: senior house officer
• SHORT syndrome: short stature, hyperextensibility and/or inguinal hernia, ocular depression, Rieger anomaly, teething delay
• SHx: social history
• SI
  • sacroiliac
  • secondary infertility
  • serious incident
  • sexual intercourse
  • signal intensity
  • situs inversus
  • small intestine
  • Systeme Internationale (d'unites) (SI units)
• Si: silicon
• SIADH: syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion
• SICRET: small infarctions of cochlear, retinal and encephalic tissue = Susac syndrome
• SIDM: steroid-induced diabetes mellitus
• SIDS: sudden infant death syndrome
• SIJ: sacroiliac joint
• SIM: simulation
• SIMV: synchronised intermittent mechanical ventilation
• SINS: spinal instability neoplastic score
• SIRT: selective internal radiotherapy
• SIRVA: shoulder injury related to vaccine administration
• SIT: situs inversus totalis
• SJS: Stevens-Johnson syndrome
• SkM: skeletal muscle
• SLAC: scapholunate advanced collapse
• SLAP: superior labral anterior-posterior (tear)
• SLE:
  • Saint Louis encephalitis
  • systemic lupus erythematosus
• SLG: sublingual gland
• SLIG: single live intrauterine gestation
• SLIP: single live intrauterine pregnancy
• SLIUG: single live intrauterine gestation
• SLIUP: single live intrauterine pregnancy
• SLJ: Sinding-Larsen-Johansson disease
• SLL: scapholunate ligament
• SLN: sentinel lymph node
• SLNBx: sentinel lymph node biopsy
• SLT: speech and language therapy
• SM
  • smooth muscle
  • submucosa
• SMA
  • superior mesenteric artery
  • smooth muscle actin (immunohistochemistry)
• SMART
  • specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely
  • stroke-like migraine attacks after radiation therapy syndrome
• SMAS: superficial musculoaponeurotic system
• SMEI: severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy
• SMG: submandibular gland
• SMR: stable metabolic response
• SMS: sonographic Murphy sign
• SMV
  • submentovertical
  • superior mesenteric vein
• SN: sentinel node
• Sn
  • sensitivity
  • tin (Latin: stannum)
• SNAC: scaphoid nonunion advanced collapse
• SNBx: sentinel node biopsy
• SNHL: sensorineural hearing loss
• SNiP: single nucleotide polymorphism
• SNOH: surgical neck of humerus
• SNP: single nucleotide polymorphism
• SNpc: substantia nigra pars compacta
• SNR: signal-to-noise ratio
• SNS: sympathetic nervous system
• SNT: soft, non-tender
• SOA: swelling of ankles
• SOAP: subjective, objective, assessment, plan (medical notes)
• SOB: shortness of breath
• SOBAR: shortness of breath at rest
• SOBOE: shortness of breath on exertion
• SOD: septo-optic dysplasia
• SOF: superior orbital fissure
• SOL: space-occupying lesion
• SONK: spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee
• SOP: standard operating procedure
• SoR: Society of Radiographers (UK)
• SOS
  • satisfaction of search (error)
  • sinusoidal obstruction syndrome
• SOV: superior ophthalmic vein
• SOVA: sinus of Valsalva aneurysm
• SP
  • sacral promontory
  • spinous process
• Sp
  • species
  • specificity
• SPTTL: superficial posterior tibiotalar ligament
• S/P: status post (i.e. post-procedure/surgery)
• SPACE
  • sampling perfection with application optimised contrasts using different flip angle evolution (Siemens)
  • spatial and chemical-shift encoded excitation
• SpaceOAR: space organ at risk
• SPAIR: spectral attenuated inversion recovery
• SPC: suprapubic catheter
• SPECIAL: spectral inversion at lipid
• SPECT: single photon emission computed tomography
• SPET: single photon emission computed tomography
• SPGR: spoiled gradient recalled
• SPIR: spectral presaturation with inversion recovery
• SPMS: secondary progressive multiple sclerosis
• SPN: solitary pulmonary nodule
• Spp: species (plural)
• SQ
  • status quo
  • subcutaneous
• SR: sinus rhythm
• Sr: strontium
• SREAT: steroid responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis
• SRO: sagittal ramus osteotomy
• SROM: spontaneous rupture of membranes
• SRS
  • Silver-Russell syndrome
  • somatostatin receptor scintigraphy
  • stereotactic radiosurgery
• SS
  • signs and symptoms
  • situs solitus
  • Sjögren syndrome
  • straight sinus
  • supraspinatus muscle
  • systemic sclerosis
• S&S: signs and symptoms
• SSCC: superior semicircular canal
• SSD
  • solid state drive
  • source skin distance
• SSFP: steady state free precession
• SSG: split skin graft
• SSI: surgical site infection
• ssp: subspecies
• SSR: spontaneous splenic rupture
• SSRI: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
• SSS
  • sick sinus syndrome
  • superior sagittal sinus
• SST: short Synacthen test
• ST
  • speech therapy
  • ST segment on ECG
• STA: superficial temporal artery
• STAMCA: superficial temporal artery to middle cerebral artery anastomosis
• Staph: Staphylococcus spp.
• stat: immediately (Latin: statim)
• STD
  • sexually transmitted disease
  • ST depression
• STE: ST elevation
• STEMI: ST segment elevation myocardial infarct
• STI:
  • sexually transmitted infection
  • soft tissue injury
• STIR
  • short tau inversion recovery
  • short TI inversion recovery
• STJ: subtalar joint
• STOP: selective tubal occlusive procedure
• STP: standard temperature and pressure
• Strep: Streptococcus spp.
• STT
  • scaphotrapeziotrapezoid joint
  • Schirmer tear test
  • serial thrombin time
  • straight to test
• STUMP: stromal tumour of uncertain malignant potential
• SUA: single umbilical artery
• Sub: subiculum
• subcut: subcutaneous
• subsp: subspecies
• SUDEP: sudden unexplained death in epilepsy
• SUI: serious untoward incident
• SUIB: sitting up in bed
• SUL: standardised uptake value corrected for lean body mass
• supraclav: supraclavicular
• SUV: standardised uptake value
• SV: stroke volume
• Sv: sievert
• SVC: superior vena cava
• SVD: spontaneous vaginal delivery
• SVI: stroke volume index
• SVR: sustained virologic response
• SVT
  • subdural venous thrombosis
  • superficial venous thrombosis
  • supraventricular tachycardia
• SWAN: syndrome without a name
• SWI: susceptibility-weighted imaging
• SWOT analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
• SWS: Sturge-Weber syndrome
• Sx: signs
• SXR: skull x-ray
• Sy: symptoms
• Symp: symptoms
• Symph: symphysis pubis
• Sys: systems review