ABSTRACT
This chapter confines to a general overview of the major types of clinically apparent tissue response evoked by infective or injurious agents. The features of acute inflammation are reproduced faithfully in all the tissues of the body and are most dramatic when the underlying cause is infection with pyogenic (pus-generating) bacteria. Examples are staphylococcal skin infections, meningitis, appendicitis and pneumonia. The stages are: congestion, red hepatisation, gray hepatisation, and resolution. The most desirable outcome of an acute inflammatory reaction is elimination of the cause followed by complete restoration of normal structure and function. However, this does not always come about. The main complications of acute inflammation are: fibrosis, abscess formation, bacterial dissemination to distant sites, progression to chronic inflammation, secondary ischaemia leading to tissue necrosis and formation of sinuses or fistulae. In the case of a skin wound, the defect is filled by plasma which coagulates to form a scab. The epithelium regenerates beneath the scab.
