Name the three phases of wound healing.

• A. Inflammatory, proliferative, maturation (remodeling)
• B. Hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation
• C. Inflammation, healing, scarring
• D. Primary, secondary, tertiary

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is how wound healing progresses through distinct, sequential stages. After an injury, the body moves through an inflammatory phase that immediately works to control bleeding and fight infection, followed by a proliferative phase where new tissue, blood vessels, and collagen begin to fill and close the wound, and finally a maturation (remodeling) phase where the new tissue rearranges and strengthens over time, reducing scar tissue as much as possible.

This set of three phases—inflammatory, proliferative, and maturation/remodeling—is why the best answer lists those terms. Inflammation includes the initial defense and cleanup, the proliferative phase builds new tissue, and maturation/remodeling refines and strengthens that tissue for the long term.

The other options don’t fit as cleanly: one combination splits out hemostasis as its own phase rather than considering it part of the inflammatory response, another uses non-phase terms like healing or scarring, and another reflects wound classifications (primary, secondary, tertiary) rather than healing stages.