Contraindications

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A set of specific conditions or factors that serve to prevent the use of a particular treatment or procedure
2. Describing circumstances where a certain intervention could pose a risk to a patient's health or well-being
3. Indicating situations or medical factors that advise against implementing a certain therapy or medication due to potential adverse effects

Etymology: "Contraindications" is the plural of "contraindication", and the word is built from two parts: the prefix "contra-", meaning "against" or "opposite", and "indication", a sign or reason pointing toward a course of action. Together they describe a reason to hold back. A contraindication is a condition that makes a treatment or procedure inadvisable, even when the treatment would otherwise be appropriate. The prefix traces back through Latin "contra", which took its form from "komterād", an earlier Latin shape that itself grew out of the Proto-Italic root for "with" and a comparative ending. "Indication" comes from the Latin "indicatio", a pointing out or showing, which gave English a word for a sign that something is needed. Joining the two produced a term whose meaning is the sign that tells a clinician to stop.

Synonyms: warnings, restrictions