Inflammation & Tissue Repair Flashcards
What does inflammation in a
wound look like?
Inflammation is a red, swollen area around any wound (even a small scratch)
that may also feel hot to the touch.
What is the key/main event that
occurs during inflammation?
The key event that occurs in inflammation is the movement of WBC’s into damaged
tissue so that they can clean up bacteria that might cause infection.
WBC’s are brought into the wound by increasing the blood flow to the area (which
is what makes the tissue red and puffy).
What are the four steps of
inflammation?
Vasodilation; Increased Vascular Permeability; Chemotaxis, Phagocytosis
What triggers/starts inflammation?
To start inflammation, the whole process must be triggered by the special WBC’s called
Mast Cells. They release the chemical histamine, which sets the first two steps of
inflammation into motion.
What is the difference between
fibrin and fibrinogen?
Fibrin and fibrinogen are proteins found in the blood that are used in blood clotting.
They are really the same protein but one is in liquid form (fibrinogen) and the
other is in solid form (fibrin). Fibrinogen has to be turned from a liquid into a solid
(the fibrin, which looks like pieces of string) in order to form a blood clot. Fibrinogen
turns into fibrin only when chemicals called blood clotting factors “tell” the fibrinogen to
do so.
What is fibrosis?
Describe in detail what it
creates.
Fibrosis is not the same as fibrin. Fibrosis is a repair process. It means the growth of
a special temporary tissue, granulation tissue, in a wound or damaged tissue.
Granulation tissue is used to quickly fill holes in wounds but is (hopefully) later replaced
by the original tissue (muscle, areolar c.t., etc.).
The main feature of granulation tissue is large amounts of blood vessels. It also has
many fibroblasts and collagen fibers. If the original tissue is not particularly good at
regrowth (regeneration), granulation tissue will stay in the wound & is then called scar
tissue.
