Phases of Wound Healing

Posted: Sept. 1, 2005

The entire wound healing process is a complex series of events that begins at the moment of injury and can continue for months to years. This overview will help in identifying the various stages of wound healing.

I. Inflammatory Phase
A) Immediate to 2-5 days
B) Hemostasis
- Vasoconstriction (a decrease in the diameter of blood vessels, especially the arteries)
- Platelet aggregation
- Thromboplastin makes clot
C) Inflammation
- Vasodilation (an increase in the diameter of the blood vessels, especially the arteries)
- Phagocytosis (the engulfment and digestion of bacteria and other foreign cell particles)

II. Proliferative Phase
A) 2 days to 3 weeks
B) Granulation
- Fibroblasts lay bed of collagen
- Fills defect and produces new capillaries
C) Contraction
- Wound edges pull together to reduce defect
D) Epithelialization
- Crosses moist surface
- Cell travel about 3 cm from point of origin in all directions

III. Remodeling Phase
A) 3 weeks to 2 years
B) New collagen forms which increases tensile strength to wounds
C) Scar tissue is only 80 percent as strong as original tissue

Source: Wound Care Information Network

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