I am trying to type up a case study (massive waste of time) and part of what I have to do is to take a doctor’s progress note, turn it into something resembling real language, and then I have to interpret it. Unfortunately this doctor keeps making up his own abbreviations.
This is infectious disease and he’s talking about the results of a blood culture:
GPC in cluster with no other infos (TTD 24)
I know that means gram positive cocci in cluster
What is infos? Is that a real abbreviation?
What about TTD 24? I thought maybe time to develop 24 hours but unless their system is totally different than what I did in medical micro, it doesn’t take 24 hours to do Gram staining.
I’ll wag and guess that “no other infos” means that there is nothing more of interest to note, that is, the note can be taken as a full and complete analysis, not a summary or selection of data.
Ok, that pretty much follows what I was thinking.
I’ve got another one now.
This is under the admission note, in the diagnoses for GI (the patient has protein-calorie malnutrition)
Banana bag, LR
I know what a banana bag is. But, since I’m not a nursing student, I have no idea if LR is Lactated Ringer’s or some other random abbreviation. Would Lactated Ringer’s be covered under GI?
Lactated Ringer’s would be an excellent solution to hang on someone who is dehydrated due to lack of adequate fluid intake. And for many other reasons.
I have found no mention of dehydration yet but I haven’t gotten that far into it. All I know about lactated ringers is that they gave it to every single patient on Emergency! 
It’s one of those things they don’t talk about much in respiratory school.
Never seen TTD used in a progress note, but it looks like it means “time to detection” in this context.
As for “no other infos”, I’d take that to mean that the results were only preliminary based on the gram stain, which is why he doesn’t give the actual name of the bacteria.
That makes total sense. Thank you.
Could you just call the Dr. and ask him or her WTF do you mean?
In my experience nothing makes an over educated under worked, over paid person squirm more then asking them to explain to someone; whom they see as an uneducated pleb, who in their eyes is so far beneath as to be unfit to clean their commodes what they mean…
For example once I told an Indian “Patel” aka Brahmin class person that in this country you are now the dalit so shut the f- up… and you do not talk down to women like that here in America…( said Hindu was demanding that a cook ( female) to cook him a vegetarian breakfast… and that in Bhārat Gaṇarājya she would ‘worship him as a god…’) after i set him straight i made sure he understood me
Mader chod!!!
Where I work, only surgeons are in love with LR, we mostly use normal saline.
Banana bags are usually given for nutritional deficits, the ‘banana’ part being a reference to the color imparted by B complex vitamins. It’s commonly given to pts without signs or a diagnosis of dehydration.
Cultures often take 3 days to complete and include the specific pathogen, and a list of antibiotics it’s resistant and sensitive to with preliminary reports being issued daily; sooo ‘no other info, TTD24’ might reference a preliminary report after 24 hours (time to date24). I’ve never seen it written that way, but that’s my best guess.
I don’t know any underworked doctors.
Ah, so that’s what a banana bag refers to. We always called it Mellow Yellow.
Dear Everyone,
I wish to apologize for for my wholly inappropriate remarks. I realize that they are offensive and rude. I wish that could take them back. I understand that some may have been offended by them, I humbly wish to offer my deepest and most sincere apologies to you.
I would also like to apologize to congodwarf for posting an offensive and non germane statement.
I am sorry to all to whom I have offended, in future I will be more considerate of others; and stop and think before I click “submit reply”.
Thank you,
Night audit.