Learning the NIH Stroke Scale in Spanish is essential for any healthcare provider who evaluates Spanish-speaking patients in the emergency department. This lesson kicks off our series on Spanish medical vocabulary for stroke assessment, walking you through real clinical dialogue you can use the next time a patient presents with stroke symptoms.
In today’s episode, you’ll hear a patient arrive at the ER after the sudden onset of right leg weakness, followed by the first portion of the NIH Stroke Scale exam conducted in Spanish. You’ll learn how to greet a patient, ask about their chief complaint, and understand how Spanish speakers describe neurological symptoms like weakness and numbness. Premium members can continue with the full dialogue and the remainder of the NIH Stroke Scale exam in Spanish.
What You’ll Learn in This Medical Spanish for Stroke Lesson
This lesson is part of our broader Spanish for Emergency Medicine curriculum and builds foundational vocabulary for conducting a stroke history and exam in Spanish, including:
- Proper greetings and introductions with patients
- Asking about the chief complaint (preocupación principal)
- Describing limb weakness and numbness using sentir + body part + adjective
- Choosing the correct past tense (preterite vs. imperfect) when patients narrate symptom onset
LEVEL – INTERMEDIATE
Greetings and Introductions
(Saludos y presentaciones)
3:41
During introductions, we use definite articles before titles. Learn when to use a definite article before one’s title.
Buenas tardes. Soy el doctor Méndez. ¿Usted es la señora Martínez?
(Good afternoon. I’m doctor Méndez. Are you Mrs. Martínez?)
We conjugate the verb SER according to the pronoun. Practice using the verb SER with pronouns.
Sí, soy yo.
(Yes, that’s me.)
Chief Complaint
(Preocupación principal)
4:58
Once introductions are out of the way, the provider asks the patient why they came in. Here’s how that question, and the patient’s answer, sound in Spanish.
D: Dígame. ¿Qué le pasa? ¿Qué le trae a urgencias hoy?
(Tell me. What is wrong? What brings you to the emergency room today?)
Dígame. / Dime. (Tell me.)
¿Qué le pasa? / ¿Qué te pasa? (What’s wrong?)
las urgencias / la sala de urgencias / la sala de emergencias (the emergency room)
¿Qué le trae a la sala de emergencias hoy?
(What brings you to the emergency room today?)
History of Present Illness
(Historia de la Enfermedad Actual)
6:36
Next, the patient describes how her symptoms began. Notice how she shifts between past tenses to set the scene and narrate the sudden onset of her symptoms.
Bueno, estaba trabajando en el jardín y casi me caigo. De repente sentí la pierna derecha débil, sin fuerza. Y la siento adormecida.
(Well, I was working in the yard and I almost fell. Suddenly, my right leg felt weak, limp. And it feels numb.)
Describing Events in the Past
7:23
She sets the scene with the imperfect tense:
Estaba trabajando en el jardín.
(If you have trouble seeing the bottom of your foot.)
She uses the present tense to express something that almost happened, but was never completed:
Casi me caigo.
(I almost fell.)
She uses the preterite tense to express a discrete event that occurred at a specific point in time:
De repente, sentí la pierna derecha débil, sin fuerza.
(Suddenly, my right leg felt weak and limp.)
sin fuerza (limp)
See our series covering Imperfect vs Preterite.
Describing the Body
8:54
To describe how a body part feels, Spanish speakers often use the verb sentir (to feel) followed by the body part and an adjective that agrees in gender and number with that body part. This construction is especially useful for patients who describe neurological symptoms such as weakness or numbness. The formula is:
sentir + la parte del cuerpo + adjetivo
(to feel + the body part + adjective)
Sentí la pierna derecha débil.
(My right leg felt weak.)
La siento adormecida.
(It feels numb.)
débil (weak)
adormecido(a) / entumecido(a) (numb)
Practice describing your body using the construction: Tener/Sentir + la parte del cuerpo + adjetivo.
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These lessons are solely for learning Spanish. They are not intended to teach medicine or provide medical advice.