Which of the following is true regarding the inflammatory response following traumatic injury?
A. There is an acute proinflammatory response caused by stimulation of the adaptive immune systemThe degree of the systemic inflammatory response following trauma is proportional to injury severity and is an independent predictor of subsequent organ dysfunction and resultant mortality. Recent work has provided insight into the mechanisms by which immune activation in this setting is triggered. The clinical features of the injury-mediated systemic inflammatory response, characterized by increased body temperature, heart rate, respirations, and white blood cell count, are similar to those observed with infection. While significant efforts have been devoted to establishing a microbial etiology for this response, it is now widely accepted that systemic inflammation following trauma is sterile.