Summary
Inflammation is the body’s response to tissue injuries. The body releases hista-
mines, kinins, and prostaglandins that force fluid and white blood cells to the site
of the injury to stimulate nerve endings and clean the area so it can heal.
The site of the injury becomes red, swollen, and warm and loses its normal
function. This happens in two phases. The vascular phase is where blood vessels
dilate and become permeable so fluid and white blood cells can leave the vessel.
The delayed phase is where white blood cells infiltrate the tissue.
Anti-inflammatory medication reduces the inflammatory process which may
allow the patient to go about normal daily activities while the tissue heals. There
are three categories of anti-inflammatory medications: analgesic, to relieve pain;
antipyretic, to reduce fever; and anticoagulants, to inhibit blood clotting.
Aspirin and other anti-inflammatory medications are called NSAIDs (non-
steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). These are eight groups of NSAIDs: salicy-
lates, parachlorobenzoic acid derivatives, pyrazolone derivatives, propionic
acid derivatives, fenamates, oxicams, phenylacetic acids, and selective COX-2
inhibitors. Corticosteroids are also used as anti-inflammatory medication.
You learned in this chapter that inflammation is not an infection although
inflammation frequently occurs when a patient becomes infected with a micro-
organism. Inflammation occurs in response to tissue injury whether it is from an
injury or an acute or chronic disease such as rheumatoid arthritis or gout. You’ll
learn about infection and fever and antimicrobial medication in the next chapter.
Quiz
- What stimulates nerve endings at the site of an injury?
(a) hypothermic response
(b) infection response
(c) inflammatory response
(d) None of the above - During what phase of the inflammation response does WBC infiltrate the
injured tissue?
(a) anti-inflammatory phase
(b) vascular phase
(c) delayed phase
(d) All of the above
CHAPTER 12 Inflammation^201