Injury and trauma

• injury is defined as: damage to the body, or to a part of the body, caused by external forces
• trauma is defined as: an injury which has the potenitial to cause death or severe injury. Usually not acute
• •The body responds initially in the same way but trauma is more severe so the response becomes greater.
• Response to injury:

  •Involuntary inflammatory response

  •Increased blood flow, increased pain/sensitivity, swelling/OEDEMA
• Proliferation phase- to remove damaged tissue and any associated toxins
• •The maturation stage is the final stage of wound healing.
• Response to Trauma:

  •Inflammatory response (same as for injury)

  •Ischaemia

  •Proliferation phase and maturation phase
• •Ischaemia is known as ‘going into shock’. Shock is not the same as having a fright – it is the medical term that describes the reduction in blood pressure following injury.
• •Shock can be caused by either internal or external bleeding.
• •Internal bleeding occurs when there are injuries inside the body such as broken bones, ruptured organs etc.
• •External bleeding occurs when there are wounds on the surface of the skin which have been cut open.
• •If an animal has lost too much blood they will go into shock. This means their heart rate increases rapidly and their blood pressure drops.
• inflammation is a response to injury or infection where the area becomes hot, red and swollen as a result of increased blood flow
• inflammation, caused by mast cells releasing histamine, leads to cytokines being released which leads to phagocytosis being promoted / triggered. Without inflammation phagocytosis might not happen.
• both cell-mediated and antibody mediated immune responses are slow compared to inflammation and phagocytosis. Without the initial antibody response, we would become ill more often.