Today I’ll go over the Spanish phrases you could use to take an HPI (history of the present illness) on a Spanish-speaking patient with abdominal pain.
This is geared towards emergency room clinicians (doctors, PA’s, or NP’s), or perhaps urgent care. But other healthcare workers can likely benefit as well.
We’ll mainly use yes/no questions, along with a few that have easy answers, like a number or day of the week.
Video Version
First, I’ll walk you through the medical Spanish phrases for abdominal pain HPI in video form. That way you can hear the pronunciation, and also quiz yourself as you go along.
(Note: In this video I misspelled the word “panza” (belly) as “pansa”. Also, I’ve learned that some people dislike that term, so just stick with “abdomen” or “estómago”.)
Get the Abdominal Pain HPI “Cheat Sheet”
If you’d prefer to have the phrases for this dialogue on a printable PDF, just fill out the form below and I’ll send it to you!
Written Version
Here’s the written version of the medical Spanish phrases for the abdominal pain HPI.
Parentheses mean the words can be left out, and the sentence will still make sense.
(Note: I edited the phrases slightly after recording the video, so the list below is not identical to the video. But it’s very close.)
English | Spanish |
(Did you come here because) your abdomen hurts? | (Vino aquí porque) le duele el abdomen? |
Where exactly (does it hurt)? | Dónde (le duele) exactamente? |
Point with one finger. | Señale con un dedo. |
How many days? / Since when? | Cuántos días? / Desde cuándo? |
(Is it) worse now? | (Está) peor ahora? |
Better now? | Mejor ahora? |
Still the same? | Sigue igual? |
Is it sharp? | Es agudo? |
Pressure-like? | Como presión? |
Burning? | Ardor? |
Is it severe? | Es fuerte? |
Mild? | Leve? |
Moderate? | Moderado? |
Is it all the time? | Es todo el tiempo? |
Does it come and go? | Va y viene? |
How many minutes does it last (each time)? | Cuántos minutos dura (cada vez)? |
(Do you feel) worse when you… | (Se siente) peor cuando… |
Eat? Vomit? | Come? Vomita? |
(Do you feel) better when you… | (Se siente) mejor cuando… |
Don’t eat? Poop? Take medicine? | No come? Hace popó? Toma medicina? |
Have you felt pain like this before? | Ha sentido un dolor como este antes? |
Does the pain radiate (to other places)? | Se le mueve el dolor (a otros lugares)? |
(Point to) where. | (Señale) donde. |
Wrapping Up
I hope you found this list of medical Spanish phrases for an abdominal pain HPI in the emergency room helpful!
To learn more medical Spanish phrases, check out my podcast (below), or my YouTube channel!
If you have a suggestion about what to cover next, just leave a comment on one of my videos. 🙂