Chapter Four: Stages of Inflammation
Inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury. An injury to soft tissue can arise from numerous sources. Physical traumas such as sprain, strain or contusion are the most common. However, there could also be injuries from viral or bacterial infection, chemical, or heat injury. Trauma can cause direct damage to cells that are in the immediate area of injury, causing bleeding. From there, the bleeding causes a line of events in the inflammatory process that promote healing the injuries tissue.
Stage 1: The Inflammatory Response
Healing of the acute injuries starts with the acute vascular inflammatory response. The purpose of those vascular changes is to increase the blood flow to the area, mobilize
The systemic inflammatory response is the next step in the continuum and is a nonspecific inflammatory state that may be seen with an infection. Sepsis is the presence of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) with evidence of infection. As the bacteria invade the bloodstream, they release endotoxins that damage the endothelial cell lining and impair the vascular system, coagulation mechanism, and immune system. These endotoxins also trigger the immune and inflammatory responses, which results in the activation of macrophages and CD4 cells that release proinflammatory cytokines to create a systemic inflammatory response to the pathogen. Hospitalized patients may quickly progress from bacteremia to sepsis and finally to septic shock, even with treatment.
Inflammation normally occurs as a second response when damage tissues. Inflammation can occur immediately however
The body’s primary reaction to an injury is tissue destruction. The degree of tissue destruction will greatly depend on the injurious force. Secondary damage may occur from cell death. Cell death occurs because of the hypoxia associated with the injured area. The damage done in the primary stage
Describe the series of events that occur in skin, which is healing with the help of a skin graft?
Immediately after the injury occurs, the individual needs to begin the basic steps of treatment. Although the steps seem minimal, they are crucial and must be administered. These steps consist of rest, ice, compression, elevation, and immobilization. In this injury you want to minimize the blood flow to the affected area. Resting reduces the risk of further injury. Ice should be applied 24 to 48 hours after the injury and will not only reduce swelling but any of the acute pain. Compression will reduce bleeding and reduce swelling, just as elevation will use gravity to reduce bleeding and reduce swelling by allowing fluids to flow away from the site of injury. There are many misconceptions about the way to apply ice,
When an inflammatory response happens white blood cells release endotoxins and exotoxins that destroy the bacteria causing infection. However, these toxins also cause damage to the surrounding blood vessels and therefore leak into the
Proliferative phase occurs within a few days of injury in which cells that were involved in the battle need to tend to their wounds and the regenerate to restore itself to its formal glory as best as possible. The body’s way of restoring itself is through use of angiogenesis, granulation tissue formation, wound contraction and epithelialization. This combination acts of getting new blood vessels to the damage area, aid in the formation of cells to fill in the area which leads to scar tissue, allow the skin to flexible in the repair process and finally resurface the wound with new epithelial
When the body recognizes that bruising has occurred the body’s natural healing abilities take effect. The first thing that the body will do will be to release histamines to increase to permeability of the
Fluid building up in the tissues caused by an inflammation response, triggered by the repeated stresses on the tissues, can lead to maceration of the deeper tissues, resulting in wounds and ulcers. Especially in patients with limited healing due to circulation conditions and diabetes, or those suffering peripheral neuropathy (Fig 3)
the depth of the injury; they are treated by direct repair or autograft or allograft transplantation
For example, the signs and symptoms of wound infection could be confused with the inflammatory phase, while parts of the wound may be in the destructive phase, with other parts in the proliferative phase. Nevertheless, to recognise that the complex physiological process can be divided into distinct phases from the initial emergency response to injury through a process of repair and regeneration to complete healing helps the nurse in the clinical decision-making process.
When injury or infection occurs inflammation ensues. Inflammation is a defense response of the body that signals for the immune system to manage/fight off infection. White blood cells and macrophages are key components of this process. On a cellular level, immunity is created by exposure to foreign antigens. When the body encounters the foreign antigens it produces antibodies to destroy the antigens. B cells, a type of white blood cell, produce these antibodies. The antigen is then stored in the memory of the B cells so that when the same antigen is encountered in the future, our body can fight off the pathogen
Increasing circulation to injured tissues is important for healing. Improved blood flow moves more oxygen and
When injury occurs, the body goes through different phases in order to complete its recovery, each phase has a specific job with the intention of preparing the body for the next phase of recovery. The phases that the body goes through are; the bleeding phase, the inflammatory phase, the proliferation phase and the remodelling phase, each of these phases happen at a specific time within the recovery after the injury. The phase that this essay is going to look at is the inflammatory phase and what role the inflammation has in tissue healing whilst briefly discussing what impacts it will have in a clinical setting.