What it means
No abnormality detected. A shorthand used in notes, examination findings and reports to record that what was looked at appeared normal.
It is a normal result — but the emphasis belongs on "detected". It records what was found by that examination or that test, not a guarantee about everything else.
You will sometimes see it in a very abbreviated examination note, such as "Chest NAD, abdo NAD", which simply means the chest and abdomen examined normally.
In practice
In GP and hospital notes, examination findings, and occasionally on results letters.
Increasingly visible now that patients can read their own records, where an unexplained three-letter abbreviation is more unsettling than the plain word would be.
Why it matters
Take it as a normal finding for the thing examined.
If your symptoms continue despite NAD, that is not a contradiction. It means the examination did not explain them, and the next step is a different test or a different question — not being sent away.
You are entitled to ask what exactly was examined, particularly where the note is very brief.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 30, 2026