Inmedicine, acontraindication is a condition (a situation or factor) that serves as a reason not to take a certain medical treatment due to the harm that it would cause the patient.[1][2] Contraindication is the opposite ofindication, which is a reason to use a certain treatment.
Absolute contraindications are contraindications for which there are no reasonable circumstances for undertaking a course of action (that is, overriding the prohibition). For example:
Relative contraindications are contraindications for circumstances in which the patient is at higher risk of complications from treatment, but these risks may be outweighed by other considerations or mitigated by other measures. For example, pregnant women should normally avoid gettingX-rays, but the risk fromradiography may be outweighed by the benefit of diagnosing (and then treating) a serious condition such astuberculosis.
Another principal pair ofterms forrelative contraindications versusabsolute contraindications iscautions versuscontraindications, or (similarly)precautions versuscontraindications: these pairs of terms are respectively synonymous. Which pair is used depends onnomenclature enforced by each organization'sstyle. For example, theBritish National Formulary uses thecautions versus contraindications pair, and various U.S.CDC webpages useprecautions versuscontraindications. The logic of the latter two styles is the idea that readers must never be confused: the wordcontraindication in thatusagealways is meant in its absolutesense, providing unmistakableword-sense disambiguation.
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