GTTS Medical Abbreviation: Meaning, GTT vs GTTS, and Clinical Usage

GTTS (more commonly written as ​gtts​) is a prescription abbreviation derived from the Latin term ​guttae​, meaning “drops,” and has been used in clinical and pharmacy contexts to indicate drop-based dosing for liquid medications.

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What does GTTS mean in medical terminology?

GTTS means “drops” and represents the plural form of the prescription abbreviation ​gtt​.

In medical prescriptions, gtt (singular) and gtts (plural) are derived from the Latin words gutta and ​guttae​. This usage is described in reference entries such as ​the definition of “drop (unit)”, which explains that gtt is commonly used to denote a drop and gtts to denote multiple drops in prescription contexts. The same interpretation appears in ​the list of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions, where gtt(s) is expanded as ​gutta(e)​, meaning ​drop(s) ​.

Is there a difference between GTT and GTTS?

Yes. GTT denotes a single drop, while GTTS denotes multiple drops.

This distinction follows Latin grammatical structure, where gutta is singular and guttae is plural. Descriptions of this usage appear in multiple medical reference entries, including ​the medical definition of “gtt”​, which explains how the singular and plural forms are used in prescription notation.

Why do Latin-derived terms like guttae appear in medical abbreviations?

Medical terminology developed during periods when Latin was widely used for scholarly and clinical communication. As a result, many prescription abbreviations and symbols retain Latin-derived forms in modern medical usage. For example, the abbreviation gtt is derived from the Latin word gutta (“drop”), with the plural form guttae corresponding to ​gtts​, a definition reflected in standard dictionary entries for medical shorthand (definition of “gtt”).

Studies examining abbreviation use in medical literature further note that such legacy abbreviations continue to appear in contemporary clinical and academic texts, but may require explicit definition to avoid ambiguity, as documented in analyses of abbreviation usage and interpretation in biomedical publications (analysis of medical abbreviation usage).

Are abbreviations like GTTS used in modern prescribing systems?

Abbreviations such as GTTS may still be encountered, although their use varies across clinical settings, documentation systems, and local practice patterns.

Studies examining medication-related and biomedical writing practices describe that abbreviations can be interpreted inconsistently when readers are unfamiliar with their intended meaning. Analyses of abbreviation usage in medical literature report that abbreviations are frequently used without definition and may contribute to misunderstanding, particularly outside of narrowly defined clinical contexts (analysis of abbreviation use and interpretation in medical publications). These findings illustrate why abbreviated forms may coexist with, but not replace, fully written dosing instructions in contemporary prescribing environments.

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