bleeding and blood clotting

Table of Contents

Introduction
Significance of hemostasis
The hemostatic process
- Vascular function
- Platelets and their aggregation
- Blood coagulation
  - Intrinsic pathway of blood coagulation
  - The extrinsic pathway of blood coagulation
  - Biochemical basis of activation
- Inhibition of clotting
- Synthesis of blood-clotting proteins
Synthetic clotting products

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

fibrin in blood clotting

Why is blood red?

How much blood is in the human body?

the blood coagulation cascade

Discover

In this aerial photo, structures are damaged and destroyed October 15, 2005 in Balakot, Pakistan. It is estimated that 90% of the city of Balakot was leveled by the earthquake. The death toll in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005 is believed to be 38,000 with at least 1,300 more dead in Indian Kashmir. SEE CONTENT NOTES.

6 of the World’s Deadliest Natural Disasters

Person paying with a credit card using a credit card terminal. Cashless payment, credit card reader

What Is a Cashless Society and How Does It Work?

Aphrodite. Greek mythology. Sculpture. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

12 Greek Gods and Goddesses

Stylish light blue jeans on wooden background, closeup of inset pocket

Why Do Jeans Have That Tiny Pocket?

Black widow spider

9 of the World’s Deadliest Spiders

Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.

10 Important Dates in Pluto History

Solar Eclipse, Eclipse, Solar Flare, Outer Space, Astronomy

What Causes Lunar and Solar Eclipses?

bleeding and blood clotting: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos and Videos

fibrin in blood clotting

the blood coagulation cascade

Why is blood red?

How much blood is in the human body?

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

purpura fulminans hemorrhage petechia intracranial bleeding subarachnoid hemorrhage purpura Osler-Rendu-Weber disease thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura Henoch-Schönlein purpura hemophilia hypoglycemia leukemia thrombocytopenia hypophosphatemia methemoglobinemia bacteremia hypoprothrombinemia hyperglycemia thrombocytopathy sulfhemoglobinemia

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

blood disease: Bleeding disorders

Quiz

44 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Health and Medicine Quizzes

full human skeleton

Diseases, Disorders, and More: A Medical Quiz