Inflammation and Wound Healing

Question 1

What is inflammation?

Answer 1

• A nonspecific but predictable response of living tissue to injury.
• The injury may be caused by chemical agents, physical forces, living microbes and many other endogenous and exogenous pathologic stimuli that can disturb the normal steady state of the body.
• It is a dynamic process, evolving through several phases which lasts from a few minutes to days or even months and years.
• Has a protective role and is generally beneficial to the body, but the side effects may be noxious (i.e. fever). Also the process may become uncontrollable, producing more harm than good. (Pulmonary TB elicits a protective tissue reaction than can erode pulmonary vessels, causing massive bleeding).

Question 2

What are the cardinal signs of inflammation?

Answer 2

• Heat
• Redness
• Swelling
• Pain
• Loss of function