Expand the essence of the process of blood clotting.
The body’s ability to control blood flow after vascular damage is paramount to survival. The process of blood clotting, and then the subsequent dissolution of the clot after the repair of damaged tissue is called hemostasis. Hemostasis includes four main events that occur in an established order after the loss of vascular integrity:
1. The initial phase of the process is vascular constriction. This restricts blood flow to the area of injury.
2. Then platelets are activated by thrombin and aggregate at the site of injury, forming a temporary free platelet plug.
3. To ensure the stability of the initially free platelets, a fibrin mesh (also called a clot) forms and traps a plug.
4. Finally, the clot must be dissolved so that normal blood flow can resume after tissue repair. Dissolution of the clot occurs through the action of plasmin.