The trachea, or windpipe, is a flexible tube about 10-12 cm long and roughly 2 cm wide in adults that carries air between the larynx and the main bronchi. It is held open by 16-20 C-shaped rings of hyaline cartilage, with the gaps at the back bridged by the trachealis muscle and fibrous tissue. It is lined by ciliated epithelium that sweeps mucus upwards.
| Location | From the lower border of the cricoid cartilage (C6) down through the neck and superior mediastinum to its bifurcation at about the level of the sternal angle (T4-T5); the oesophagus lies directly behind it. |
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| Parts |
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| Nerve Supply | Recurrent laryngeal nerves (vagus, parasympathetic and sensory); Sympathetic trunk |
| Blood Supply | Inferior thyroid arteries; Bronchial arteries |
| Venous drainage |
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| Lymphatic drainage |
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Conducts air to and from the lungs, warms, humidifies and filters it, and clears trapped particles upward through the mucociliary escalator and coughing.
Deviation of the trachea away from the midline can signal a tension pneumothorax, large effusion or collapsed lung. A tracheostomy is usually placed through the 2nd to 4th rings, below the thyroid isthmus. Prolonged intubation can damage the tracheal wall and cause narrowing.
Narrowing of the trachea, often after intubation or tracheostomy. It causes breathlessness and noisy breathing that can be mistaken for asthma.
Softness of the tracheal cartilages so the airway collapses during breathing or coughing. It can be congenital or acquired.
An abnormal connection between the trachea and oesophagus, usually congenital alongside oesophageal atresia. It causes choking and aspiration with feeding.
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