Traumatic Brain Injury in Spanish

What it means

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a sudden injury that causes damage to the brain. It may happen when there is a blow, bump, or jolt to the head (a closed head injury) or when an object penetrates the skull (a penetrating injury). Symptoms can be mild, moderate, or severe. Concussions are a type of mild TBI, and more severe TBI can lead to serious physical and psychological symptoms, coma, and even death. To make a diagnosis, a health care provider will do a neurologic exam, may do imaging tests such as a CT scan or MRI, and may use a tool such as the Glasgow coma scale. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says to seek immediate medical attention if certain symptoms appear after a head injury.

Spanish term: Lesión Cerebral Traumática
Gender and article: feminine: la lesión cerebral traumática
Pronunciation: leh-SYOHN seh-reh-BRAHL trow-MAH-tee-kah

Other Spanish terms	Where it is used	Note
daño cerebral traumático	General	MedlinePlus en español lists this among the other names on its page for the condition.
lesión encefálica traumática	General	MedlinePlus en español lists this among the other names on its page for the condition.
traumatismo cerebral	General	Common name given on the Spanish-language page of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
TBI	General	English abbreviation that both Spanish-language pages keep; the NICHD page writes it with the words por sus siglas en inglés.

MedlinePlus en español titles its page Lesión cerebral traumática and defines the term there; the page prints it in sentence case, with only the first word capitalized. The noun lesión is feminine, so the adjectives agree with it: la lesión cerebral traumática, and in the plural lesiones cerebrales traumáticas. The same page lists daño cerebral traumático and lesión encefálica traumática as other names, and it keeps the English abbreviation TBI in some of its headings.

The Spanish-language page of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development gives a different common name, traumatismo cerebral, followed by the words TBI por sus siglas en inglés. Words that MedlinePlus en español prints alongside the term include conmoción cerebral (concussion, a type of mild traumatic brain injury), lesión cerrada de la cabeza (closed head injury), lesión penetrante (penetrating injury) and escala de coma de Glasgow (Glasgow coma scale).

Phrases for an appointment

What a patient or a clinician might say, in English and Spanish:

Who	English	Spanish
Clinician	Did you hit your head or lose consciousness?	¿Se golpeó la cabeza o perdió el conocimiento?
Patient	I was in a car crash last week, and I hit my head.	Tuve un choque de auto la semana pasada y me golpeé la cabeza.
Patient	Since then I have had headaches and trouble concentrating.	Desde entonces tengo dolores de cabeza y problemas para concentrarme.
Clinician	Your record says that you had a mild traumatic brain injury.	Su expediente dice que tuvo una lesión cerebral traumática leve.
Patient	Is a concussion a type of traumatic brain injury?	¿Una conmoción cerebral es un tipo de lesión cerebral traumática?
Clinician	I am going to do a neurologic exam and order a CT scan.	Voy a hacerle un examen neurológico y a pedirle una tomografía computarizada.
Clinician	Have you noticed changes in your sleep, your mood, or your memory?	¿Ha notado cambios en el sueño, en el estado de ánimo o en la memoria?
Patient	Which symptoms mean that I should get medical attention right away?	¿Qué síntomas indican que debo buscar atención médica de inmediato?

In 9 languages

Language	Term
English	Traumatic Brain Injury
Spanish (Español)	Lesión Cerebral Traumática
Chinese (中文)	創傷性腦損傷
Korean (한국어)	외상성 뇌손상
Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)	Chấn thương sọ não
Filipino (Tagalog)	Traumatic Brain Injury
Portuguese (Português)	Lesão Cerebral Traumática
Thai (ภาษาไทย)	การบาดเจ็บทางสมองจากอุบัติเหตุ
Japanese (日本語)	外傷性脳損傷

Where you'll see it

chartEOBreferralmedical record

Related ICD-10-CM category

ICD-10-CM code: S09 → Other and unspecified injuries of head

Related terms

Your right to an interpreter in the United States

If English is not your primary language and you have difficulty communicating in English, you may need an interpreter or a translated document when you visit a doctor or dentist, go to the emergency room or pick up a prescription. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights states that two federal laws, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, require programs that receive its funding to provide language access services free of charge.

You can ask when you make the appointment or at the front desk: "I need an interpreter, please." «Necesito un intérprete, por favor.»

More terms: Brain and nerves

All terms in this area: Brain and nerves — Cerebro y nervios

Sources

This page is a language reference. It is not medical advice.