Acute Inflammation of a Wound

ACUTE INFLAMMATION OF A WOUND

In this essay in order to get the full benefit of understanding the physiology of acute (meaning sudden onset) inflammation of a wound the author will establish the normal tissue layers of the skin when no injury has occurred through to altered physiology when injury has occurred. Through this process the reader will be able to identify the different stages involved. A wound is associated with an injury to tissue or body structure both internal and external (Martin E.A, 2002). Classification of wounds are divided into six main categories – contusions (bruises), abrasions (graze), laceration (tear), incision (cut), puncture (stab) and burns. There are four main stages to normal wound healing – Haemostasis, inflammation, proliferation phase and maturation phase (Flanagan. M, 2000). Through identifying the type of wound involved it is then possible to assess the normal phase in regard to the injury, inflammation is a normal part of wound healing which is associated with pain, heat, redness and swelling, some of these issues will be discussed in more depth.

Skin covers the entire human body, its main function is to protect the underlying structures from injury or harm from invasions of microbes, skin is involved in maintaining body temperature and also contains sensory nerve endings which detect pain, temperature changes and touch sensors (Waugh & Grant 2007). The skin is part of the integumentary system, structure of the skin consists of two main layers the epidermis and dermis with a layer of subcutaneous fat underlying the two structures.

The epidermis is the most outer layer of skin which consists mainly of stratified keratinised squamous epithelium and is divided into five layers (strata) none of...

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...ed by fibrous scar tissue. The wound site strengthens by the rearrangement of collagen fibres and in time the scar will become less vascular.

Inflammation is the acute physiological response to tissue damage. The cause of inflammation can be classified as:-

 Microbes – e.g. bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi.

 Physical agents – e.g. heat, cold, mechanical injury, ultraviolet and ionising radiation.

 Chemical agents – organic, e.g. microbial toxins and organic poisons.

- Inorganic, e.g. acids and alkalis (Waugh & Grant 2007).

The observer should be aware when assessing a wound as prolonged inflammation can also be a sign of some underlining problems especially when the patient has an illness such as diabetes or respiratory problems. Prolonging the process could become chronic and more tissue is likely to be affected.