Chapter 4.
7: Tissue Damage and
Inflammation
Inflammation occurs when tissues are
damaged. Inflammation can also result from
certain painful events that follow trauma like
cutting yourself with a knife.
5 symptoms of inflammation:
● Redness
● Heat
● Swelling
● Pain
● Disturbance
Objective- examining the patient, getting their
vitals, observable and measurable data.
Subjective- based on the point of view of the
patient.
Although inflammation can be unpleasant, it
usually is beneficial because it mobilizes the
body’s defences and destroys damaged cells
so tissue repair can occur.
Inflammatory Response Stages:
A splinter in the skin causes damage and
introduces bacteria. Chemical mediators of
inflammation are activated in injured tissues.
Some blood vessels rupture, which causes
bleeding.
Chemical mediators (green) cause capillaries
to dilate and the skin to become red and
produce swelling.
White blood cells move to the site of infection
where they begin to phagocytize bacteria
caused by the splinter.
Furthermore, the release of chemical
mediators allows an enhancement in
permeability of blood vessels and increased
blood flow.
It also signals the white blood cells to go to the
site of tissue damage in order to repair them.
● These chemical mediators include
histamine, kinins, prostaglandins,
leukotrienes, and others.
● Some mediators cause dilation of
blood vessels, which causes redness
and heat but it increases the speed of
white blood cells in order to migrate to
the injury site.
Edema (swelling) of the tissues
- results when water, proteins, and
other substances move from the blood
into the tisues.
- Edema increases the pressure in the
tissue, which can also stimulate
neurons and cause pain.
Neutrophil
- a phagocytic white blood cell that
fights infections by ingesting bacterias.
- They die after ingesting a small
number of bacteria and the mixture of
dead neutrophils, other cells, and fluid
mixed together is called pus.
The limitation of movement resulting from
edema and pain can be adaptive as well
because it warns the person to protect the
injured area from further damage.
Chronic Inflammation
- Also known as prolonged inflammation
and it results when something
interferes with the healing process.
- It can lead to the replacement of
normal tissue by fibrous tissue which
can cause the loss of normal organ
function, such as the lungs, liver, or
kidneys and can lead to death.
- When the inflammation lasts longer
than usual, drugs are sometimes used
to supress the symptoms.
- Some examples are medications like
antihistamines. Aspirin and related
drugs, such as ibuprofen and
naproxen, are effective anti-
inflammatory agents that relieve pain.