Terminal bronchioles are the last and smallest purely conducting airways, less than about 0.5 mm wide, with no cartilage or alveoli in their walls. Each one leads into respiratory bronchioles, where gas exchange begins.
| Location | Within the lung lobules, at the end of the conducting airway tree (about generation 16) |
|---|---|
| Parts |
|
| Nerve Supply | Pulmonary plexus (vagal constrictor, sympathetic dilator fibres) |
| Blood Supply | Bronchial arteries |
| Venous drainage | |
| Lymphatic drainage |
|
Carry air to the gas exchange zone and help control airflow resistance through their smooth muscle.
Small airways disease begins here in smokers, often before routine spirometry becomes abnormal. Inflammation and scarring of these bronchioles (bronchiolitis obliterans) can follow transplant, toxic fumes or infection. Their smooth muscle constricts in asthma.
Scarring that narrows the small airways and causes fixed airflow obstruction.
Smoking-related narrowing and loss of small airways that limits airflow.
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