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Medical Abbreviations Starting With "W"
This page lists 73 medical abbreviations starting with "W", each with its full form and a plain-English meaning. Where one abbreviation has more than one common meaning, each meaning has its own row — context in the chart is what tells them apart. Terms flagged ⚠ Error-prone are on recognised error-prone lists and should be written out in full. Use the filter box to narrow this list, the search on the main guide to search all 5,715 entries, or jump to another letter:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N 0–9 O P Q R S T U V X Y Z
| Abbreviation | Full form | What it means | Used in |
|---|---|---|---|
| W/C | wheelchair | Chair with wheels for moving a patient | Nursing |
| WAGR | WAGR syndrome (Wilms aniridia) | Tumor, iris, genital and learning syndrome | Pediatrics Hematology & Oncology Renal & Nephrology |
| wAIHA | warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia | Hemolysis driven by warm-reacting antibodies | Hematology & Oncology |
| WAIS | Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale | Standard intelligence test for adults | Psychiatry |
| WAIS-IV | Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV | Adult intelligence test edition | Psychiatry Neurology Pediatrics |
| waitlist | waitlist (transplant) | Organ waiting list — transplant | Renal & Nephrology Surgery General Medical |
| wake-up stroke | wake-up stroke (presentation) | Stroke found on waking | Neurology Emergency & Critical Care |
| wander guard | wander management system | Tag system alerting when a patient nears exits | Nursing Psychiatry |
| warm ischemia | warm ischemia time (organ) | Unperfused warm time of an organ | Surgery Renal & Nephrology |
| waste | waste (discard volume) | Blood discarded before a line sample to avoid dilution | Nursing Laboratory |
| wasting | wasting (weight deficit term) | Acute undernutrition thinness term | Pediatrics Emergency & Critical Care |
| watcher | watcher (high-risk patient flag) | Patient flagged for close deterioration monitoring | Nursing Emergency & Critical Care Pediatrics |
| watchful waiting AOM | watchful waiting (otitis strategy) | Observation option for mild ear infections | Pediatrics Infectious Disease |
| water deprivation | water deprivation test (DI) | Supervised thirst test for DI | Endocrinology Renal & Nephrology Laboratory |
| water watcher | water watcher (designated adult) | Assigned undistracted pool watcher | Pediatrics Nursing |
| watershed | watershed infarct (borderzone) | Stroke at territory borders from low flow | Neurology Radiology & Imaging |
| WB | weight bearing | Putting weight through a limb or joint | Musculoskeletal |
| WB | whole blood (transfusion) | Unseparated donor blood used increasingly in trauma | Hematology & Oncology Laboratory Emergency & Critical Care |
| WBAT | weight bearing as tolerated | Putting as much weight through a limb as is comfortable | Musculoskeletal |
| WBAT | weight-bearing as tolerated | Putting as much weight on a limb as comfort allows | Musculoskeletal Nursing |
| WBC | white blood cell | Blood cell that fights infection | Laboratory Hematology & Oncology |
| WBC | white blood count | Number of white cells in a blood sample | Laboratory Hematology & Oncology |
| WBC scan | radiolabeled white blood cell scan | Nuclear scan locating infection | Radiology & Imaging Infectious Disease |
| WBRT | whole brain radiation therapy | Radiation to the entire brain for spread of cancer | Hematology & Oncology Radiology & Imaging Neurology |
| WCST | Wisconsin Card Sorting Test | Set-shifting executive function test | Neurology Psychiatry |
| WD | withdrawal (documentation shorthand) | Abstinence syndrome shorthand | Psychiatry Prescription & Medication Orders |
| weaning | weaning (feeding transition) | Moving from breast or bottle to foods — transition | Pediatrics Nursing |
| WEB | Woven EndoBridge (aneurysm device) | Intrasaccular device treating wide-neck aneurysms | Neurology Radiology & Imaging Surgery |
| Weber | Danis-Weber classification | Ankle fracture classification | Musculoskeletal Radiology & Imaging |
| Weber | Weber test (tuning fork) | Lateralization test for hearing loss | Neurology General Medical |
| weight restoration | weight restoration (treatment goal) | Nutritional rehabilitation target in anorexia | Psychiatry Pediatrics Nursing |
| well-child | well-child visit (preventive) | Scheduled preventive health visit | Pediatrics Nursing General Medical |
| WES | whole exome sequencing | Reading all protein-coding parts of DNA | Laboratory |
| Wessel | Wessel criteria (colic rule of threes) | Crying duration definition of colic | Pediatrics |
| Western blot | immunoblot (Western blot) | Protein antibody confirmation technique | Laboratory General Medical |
| Westley | Westley croup score | Severity score for croup | Pediatrics Respiratory Emergency & Critical Care |
| wet diapers | wet diapers (intake gauge) | Daily urine count tracking baby intake | Pediatrics Nursing |
| wet mount | wet mount (microscopy) | Saline slide examination — microscopy | Obstetrics & Gynecology Laboratory |
| wet nurse | wet nurse (historical feeding) | Woman nursing another's baby, historical | Obstetrics & Gynecology Pediatrics |
| wet wrap | wet wrap therapy (eczema) | Wet layer treatment for severe eczema flares | Pediatrics Nursing |
| WGS | whole genome sequencing | Reading a person's complete DNA | Laboratory |
| WGS typing | whole genome sequencing typing | Sequencing used to trace outbreak strains | Laboratory Infectious Disease |
| wheeze | wheeze (sound) | Whistling lower airway sound | Pediatrics Respiratory |
| whiff test | whiff test (amine test) | Odor test supporting BV diagnosis | Obstetrics & Gynecology Laboratory |
| Whipple anatomy | Whipple (pancreaticoduodenectomy, shorthand) | Major pancreas and duodenum operation shorthand | Surgery Gastroenterology Hematology & Oncology |
| WHO | World Health Organization | United Nations agency for global health | General Medical |
| WHO chart | WHO growth standards (child) | World standard growth charts for young children | Pediatrics |
| WHO checklist | WHO Surgical Safety Checklist | Global standard surgical safety checklist | Nursing Surgery General Medical |
| WHODAS | WHO Disability Assessment Schedule | Disability and functioning measure | Psychiatry General Medical |
| whoop | inspiratory whoop (pertussis sign) | Gasping sound after a coughing burst | Pediatrics Respiratory Infectious Disease |
| WIC | Women, Infants, and Children | US nutrition program for pregnant women, new mothers and young children | Pediatrics Obstetrics & Gynecology General Medical |
| wide local | wide local excision (WLE) | Removing a lesion with a clear margin | Surgery Hematology & Oncology |
| Williams | Williams syndrome (genetic) | Friendly personality genetic syndrome with heart narrowing | Pediatrics Cardiology Neurology |
| Wilms | Wilms tumor (nephroblastoma) | Childhood kidney tumor | Pediatrics Hematology & Oncology Renal & Nephrology Surgery |
| window falls | window fall prevention (guards) | Window guard safety guidance | Pediatrics Emergency & Critical Care |
| winter | Winter formula (compensation) | Expected breathing compensation in acidosis — formula | Emergency & Critical Care Laboratory Respiratory |
| WISC | Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children | Standard intelligence test for children | Psychiatry Pediatrics |
| WISC-V | Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-V | Child intelligence test edition | Pediatrics Psychiatry |
| WIT | warm ischemia time | Time an organ is without blood flow at body temperature | Surgery |
| WKS | Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome | Brain disorder from thiamine deficiency, affecting memory | Neurology Psychiatry |
| WNL | within normal limits | Result falls in the expected healthy range | General Medical |
| WNV | West Nile virus | Mosquito-borne virus tested in donors and encephalitis | Infectious Disease Laboratory Neurology |
| WOB | work of breathing | Effort needed to breathe in and out | Respiratory |
| WOMAC | Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index | Hip and knee arthritis questionnaire | Musculoskeletal |
| Word catheter | Word catheter (Bartholin drain) | Small balloon drain for a Bartholin abscess | Obstetrics & Gynecology Surgery |
| Wound vac | negative pressure wound therapy | Vacuum dressing helping a wound heal | Surgery Nursing |
| wound vac | wound VAC (device shorthand) | Vacuum dressing device shorthand | Nursing Surgery |
| WPPSI | Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence | Young child intelligence test | Pediatrics Psychiatry |
| WPW | Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome | Extra electrical pathway that can cause fast heart rhythms | Cardiology |
| WRBC | washed red blood cells | Red cells washed to remove plasma proteins | Hematology & Oncology Laboratory |
| WS | Williams syndrome | Genetic condition affecting development, learning and the heart | Pediatrics Cardiology |
| Wt | weight | How heavy a patient is | Vitals & Assessment |
| WURS | Wender Utah Rating Scale | Retrospective childhood ADHD scale | Psychiatry |
Educational reference only. This guide is for learning and quick reference. Abbreviations vary between hospitals, countries and specialties, and some are discouraged because they can be misread. Always write and interpret orders using your own institution’s approved abbreviation list, and check anything unclear with the prescriber or your local policy.