Inflammation is the body's protective response to injury or infection. It involves vascular changes like vasodilation and increased permeability that allow fluid proteins and immune cells to move from blood vessels into injured tissues. Acute inflammation occurs immediately after injury and lasts a few days at most. It is characterized by neutrophil accumulation and involves vascular changes and fluid exudation that cause swelling. Neutrophils migrate to injury sites through a process involving rolling, adhesion and chemotaxis in response to chemical signals, and then phagocytose and destroy pathogens through enzymatic lysis before undergoing apoptosis.