Which statement correctly identifies the three primary phases of wound healing and a key process in each phase?

Which statement correctly identifies the three primary phases of wound healing and a key process in each phase?

• A. Inflammation/hemostasis—blood clotting and immune cell recruitment; Proliferation—granulation tissue formation and angiogenesis; Maturation/remodeling—collagen realignment and increased tensile strength.
• B. Inflammation—scar formation; Proliferation—epithelialization; Remodeling—blood clotting.
• C. Hemostasis—immune cell recruitment; Proliferation—scar remodeling; Maturation—epithelialization.
• D. Inflammation—swelling only; Proliferation—granulation; Remodeling—necrosis.

Answer: (A)

Wound healing moves through three overlapping phases, each with a key process that drives progression. In the first phase, hemostasis and inflammation, the body stops bleeding with a clot and then recruits immune cells to clean debris and fight infection. In the second phase, proliferation, new tissue forms: granulation tissue develops, bringing fibroblasts to lay down extracellular matrix and collagen, and new blood vessels grow through angiogenesis; epithelial cells also migrate to cover the wound. In the final phase, remodeling (maturation), the matrix is reorganized and strengthened: collagen realigns along tension lines, type III collagen is gradually replaced by stronger type I collagen, and tensile strength of the tissue increases over time.

This option matches that sequence and these hallmark processes. Other statements mix up the timing or content—for example, treating scar formation as a primary feature of inflammation or implying remodeling primarily involves epithelialization or necrosis—so they don’t fit the established progression as accurately.