Wound Care Certified Certification (WCC) Practice Exam

During which phase of wound healing is the wound re-epithelialized or closed?

1. Inflammatory phase

2. Proliferative phase

3. Maturation phase

4. Hemostasis phase

The correct answer is: Proliferative phase

The wound is re-epithelialized or closed during the proliferative phase of healing. This phase is characterized by several critical processes, including the formation of granulation tissue, angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels), fibroblast proliferation, and collagen deposition. The epithelial cells begin to migrate across the wound bed, leading to re-epithelialization, which is essential for restoring the skin barrier and minimizing fluid loss, infection, and scarring. While the inflammatory phase is important for clearing debris and preventing infection, and the maturation phase focuses on strengthening and remodeling the scar tissue, it is specifically during the proliferative phase that significant healing occurs towards closing the wound. The hemostasis phase, immediately after an injury, primarily involves clot formation and does not encompass epithelial regeneration or closure of the wound. Thus, the proliferative phase is the key period in which the wound is actively being closed through re-epithelialization.