Which of the following is NOT one of the three phases of wound healing?

• A. Inflammation
• B. Proliferation
• C. Hemostasis
• D. Maturation/remodeling

Answer: (C)

Hemostasis is the immediate response after injury that stops bleeding by forming a clot. In the three-phase framework commonly used for this topic, the wound healing process is described as inflammatory, proliferative, and maturation/remodeling. Hemostasis occurs right at the start and often overlaps with early inflammation, but it is not counted as one of the three healing phases. After hemostasis, the inflammatory phase clears debris and prepares the wound, the proliferative phase builds new tissue with fibroblasts and new blood vessels, and the maturation/remodeling phase strengthens and reorganizes the tissue over time. So the process that is not one of the three phases is hemostasis.