Integumentary System Flashcards
What is the integumentary system?
The skin and its adnexal structures (hair and glands), horns, hoofs, claws, and other epithelial modifications
What molecule in the integumentary system helps it to act as a protective barrier?
Keratin
In what ways does the integumentary system act as a protective barrier
It reduces water loss, invasion by microorganisms, and abrasive trauma
What is skin?
An outside covering of an animal
What is skin continuous with?
Mucous membranes in the oral, anal, and urogenital orifices
Vestibule (inside) of the nostril
Palpebral fissure (area between eyelids)
What are the three layers of the skin?
Outer epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous layer
What is the outer epidermis?
The layer we can touch
Describe the structure of the tissue that makes up the outer epidermis.
Keratinized, stratified, squamous epithelium
Why does the outer epidermis being stratified help
It allows for shedding and replacement of skin cells
What is the dermis?
The layer that hair and sweat glands originate from
Describe the structure of the tissue that makes up the dermis.
Dense, fibrous, vascular, connective tissue
What is the subcutaneous layer?
The hypodermis/bottom layer of skin
What is contained within the subcutaneous layer and what is its purpose?
Adipose/fat tissue
It insulates and absorbs shock
What determines how much adipose is in the subcutaneous layer?
The species of the animal
What is skin characterized by?
The mucocutaneous junction
In what two ways can skin thickness differ?
The species and the location on an individual
Where on an individual is skin the thickest?
Where it is the most exposed, like the back
Where on an individual is the skin the thinnest?
Where it is more protected, like the groin
How does skin adherence to structures beneath it vary?
By location on the individual
What are the three types of subcutaneous injections and what are the angles that they enter the skin at?
Intramuscular 90 degrees, subcutaneous 45 degrees, intradermal 10-15 degrees
What does an intramuscular injection penetrate and what is special about this kind of injection?
It penetrates the muscle
The length of the needle will vary based on species due to the varying thickness of adipose in the subcutaneous tissue that the needle has to pass through to reach the muscle
What does a subcutaneous injection penetrate?
The subcutaneous tissue
What does an intradermal injection penetrate?
The dermis
Where is the blood supply in the skin?
Only at the most basal layer of the epithelium/epidermis to help aide with production of new cells, which die off when they get further from the blood supply