Pressure Injury in Spanish | Terms Nurses Actually Write

Clinical Spanish most often uses “lesión por presión” for pressure injury, with stage wording kept aligned to standard staging labels.

If you’re translating wound notes, discharge paperwork, or bedside teaching, “pressure injury” can turn into a mess fast. People mix “úlceras,” “escaras,” “heridas,” and “lesiones” like they’re the same thing. They aren’t always used the same way, and that can spill into staging, coding, and care plans.

This article gives you clean, chart-ready Spanish terms that match how many clinicians write today, plus plain-language options for patient-facing materials. You’ll see which phrases stay close to guideline wording, where confusion shows up, and how to write notes that read clearly in either language.

Why The Spanish Term Matters In Real Notes

A pressure injury is not just “a sore.” Documentation often needs to separate pressure-related tissue damage from moisture damage, vascular ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, surgical wounds, traumatic wounds, or skin tears. When Spanish wording gets vague, the clinical picture gets fuzzy.

Clear Spanish terms help when:

• Charting bilingual nursing notes in hospitals and long-term care
• Handing off care across teams that chart in Spanish
• Writing discharge instructions and home-care teaching sheets
• Coding or quality reporting where staging language must stay consistent

One more wrinkle: many teams still say “pressure ulcer” out of habit, even when they mean “pressure injury.” Guidelines and staging language shifted over time, so your Spanish translation should match the terminology your facility uses for staging and reporting.

Pressure Injury In Spanish Terms For Charting

The safest clinical translation for “pressure injury” is lesión por presión. You’ll also see úlcera por presión in many settings. Some facilities treat them as interchangeable in routine conversation, yet staging systems and quality programs often rely on consistent labels.

If you want wording that mirrors international guideline language, “lesión por presión” is widely used in Spanish guideline materials. The Spanish quick reference guide from the international collaboration keeps that phrasing throughout. Guía de consulta rápida en español (EPUAP/NPIAP/PPPIA) shows the term in a clinical context and keeps the staging-related vocabulary consistent.

Common Spanish Phrases You’ll See

Here are Spanish terms that show up in charts, referrals, and patient education. Pick the set that matches your facility’s preferred language and keep it steady across the note.

• Lesión por presión (clinical, guideline-aligned)
• Úlcera por presión (common in practice, older term in many charts)
• Escara (used for a pressure sore in casual Spanish, also used for necrotic tissue by some clinicians)
• Herida por presión (understandable, yet less standard than “lesión”)

One Rule That Saves Headaches

When your note includes staging, keep the base term and the stage label paired in the same style every time. Mixing “úlcera” in one line and “lesión” in the next can read like two separate problems to the next reader.

How To Choose The Right Spanish Wording For Your Audience

Spanish in the chart and Spanish in teaching sheets are not the same. A bedside teaching line should feel plain and direct. A charting line should match clinical labels and staging terms.

Charting Spanish (Clinical Register)

Use “lesión por presión” plus precise location, laterality, stage label, wound bed details, drainage, odor, periwound skin, and pain. Keep short phrases that other clinicians can scan.

Patient-Facing Spanish (Plain Register)

You can keep “lesión por presión,” then add a short explanation like “una herida que aparece cuando la piel y el tejido se dañan por presión continua.” Many Spanish patient education handouts use this approach.

If you need a reputable Spanish clinician overview for background language choices, the professional Spanish entry in MSD Manual uses “lesión por presión” and describes common mechanisms and presentation in clinical Spanish. Lesiones por presión (Manual MSD, versión para profesionales) can help you mirror terminology that reads naturally to clinicians.

Documentation Traps That Cause Mix-Ups

These are the spots where translations go sideways, even with good intent.

Mixing Pressure Injury With Moisture Damage

Moisture-associated skin damage (from incontinence, perspiration, or drainage) can look similar at a glance. If you’re translating, don’t “upgrade” a note into a pressure injury unless the source note clearly ties it to pressure or shear. Keep the original meaning.

Using “Escara” When You Mean “Esfacelos/Eschar”

In some Spanish settings, “escara” is used as a lay term for a pressure sore. In other settings, “escara” is used to mean a black necrotic covering (eschar). If your team uses “escara” in the tissue sense, be more explicit in the wound description: “tejido necrótico negro adherido” or “placa necrótica adherida,” so it can’t be read as “pressure sore” by mistake.

Translating “Unstageable” Too Loosely

“Unstageable” is not the same as “unknown.” It usually means the base of the wound can’t be seen due to slough/eschar or a non-removable device/dressing, depending on the context. Coding guides spell this out and are worth matching in your Spanish phrasing when documentation drives reporting.

The U.S. CMS pocket guide lays out staging and “unstageable” definitions in a practical format. CMS pocket guide for stages and definitions is useful when you want Spanish labels that still track with the English staging logic in many facilities.

Spanish Terms Table For Notes, Orders, And Teaching

Use this as a quick pick-list. The “Notes” column tells you when a phrase is a safe default and when it needs extra context.

English Term	Spanish Term	Notes For Use
Pressure injury	Lesión por presión	Strong clinical default; matches many Spanish guideline materials.
Pressure ulcer	Úlcera por presión	Common in practice; still appears in many charts and policies.
Pressure sore (lay term)	Escara	Can be unclear; some readers take it as necrotic tissue.
Shear	Cizallamiento	Use in risk/etiology lines; often paired with presión + fricción.
Friction	Fricción	Helpful in prevention plans and repositioning notes.
Repositioning schedule	Programa de cambios de posición	Works in orders and teaching; add frequency and surface notes.
Support surface	Superficie de alivio de presión	Clearer than a direct translation; specify mattress/cushion type.
Slough	Esfacelos	Use with % estimate if your charting template allows it.
Eschar	Escara necrótica	Add color/adherence (negra, adherida) to reduce ambiguity.

Staging Language In Spanish That Stays Close To Standard Labels

Staging terms can vary by region and facility. The goal is consistency: the stage label, the brief descriptor, and the wound description should point to the same clinical picture.

Many teams keep the English stage numbers (Stage 1–4) and write the rest in Spanish. That’s fine if it’s consistent across the record. For facilities that want full Spanish labels, the table below gives common phrasing patterns that map cleanly to typical staging systems used in clinical care and reporting.

When “Stage” Becomes “Etapa”

“Etapa” is commonly used for stage labels in Spanish clinical writing. Some facilities use “estadio.” Pick one and stick with it.

Pressure Injury Stages In Spanish And Chart Cues

Stage Label	Spanish Label	Chart Cue
Stage 1	Lesión por presión, etapa 1	Piel intacta, cambio de color persistente; describa temperatura/dolor si aplica.
Stage 2	Lesión por presión, etapa 2	Pérdida parcial de piel; evite confundir con dermatitis por humedad.
Stage 3	Lesión por presión, etapa 3	Pérdida total de piel; grasa visible; describa socavación o túneles si están.
Stage 4	Lesión por presión, etapa 4	Estructuras profundas expuestas; describa tejido y cobertura.
Unstageable	Lesión por presión sin estadificar	Base no visible por esfacelos/escara o por dispositivo/aposito no removible.
Deep tissue pressure injury	Lesión por presión de tejido profundo	Cambio de color persistente, piel intacta o ampolla con daño profundo sospechado.

Copy-Ready Spanish Lines For Common Charting Needs

These lines are meant to be edited to match your findings and your facility template. Keep them short. Keep them factual. Avoid guessing.

Assessment Lines

• “Lesión por presión en sacro, etapa __, tamaño __ cm x __ cm x __ cm, exudado __, olor __, dolor __/10.”
• “Piel perilesional: eritema __, maceración __, calor local __.”
• “Tejido en lecho: granulación __%, esfacelos __%, escara necrótica __%.”

Etiology And Risk Lines

• “Riesgo por inmovilidad, fricción y cizallamiento; se refuerza programa de cambios de posición.”
• “Lesión relacionada con dispositivo médico en __; se ajusta colocación y se protege piel.”

Plan Lines

• “Superficie de alivio de presión indicada; se documenta tolerancia y revisión diaria de piel.”
• “Educación: inspección diaria de piel, hidratación de piel intacta, aviso si hay cambio de color o dolor.”

Quick Method Note For Translators And Writers

The term choices above come from commonly used clinical Spanish phrasing and from guideline and coding references, then shaped into short chart-ready patterns. When your facility policy uses a specific label set, match it word-for-word and keep the rest of the note consistent with that set.

If your work ties into reporting or audits, use a staging and definition reference that matches your system. The international guideline quick reference guide and the CMS pocket guide are both practical anchors for consistent language and staging logic in many settings: International Guideline site page for the 2019 guideline materials.

Final Check Before You Sign The Note

Use this fast checklist to catch the usual translation and documentation snags:

• Base term stays consistent: lesión por presión or úlcera por presión
• Stage label matches the wound description
• Location and laterality are stated
• Drainage, odor, pain, and periwound skin are described when relevant
• Device-related wording is clear if a device is involved
• Patient-facing lines use plain Spanish and avoid jargon