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Airway Anatomy: Everything You Need to Know

The airway is a complex passage for air to travel through and into the lungs. It is composed of a number of different parts, including the nose, mouth, throat, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli. These components work together to provide oxygen to the body, and to expel carbon dioxide. The airway is essential for the maintenance of life and is a highly specialized structure that is divided into two parts: the upper and the lower airway.

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Articles of Interest

Airway Anatomy, Physiology, and Inflammation

The function of the respiratory system is based on bulk flow of air in response to small pressure gradients developed by respiratory muscle contraction coupled with passive diffusion of gases between inspired air and circulating blood of the alveolar capillaries in response to differential gas pressures. Extensive mechanisms exist to protect the lungs against environmental insults, and many of these processes are adaptive in nature, resulting in memory that increases sensitivity and responsiveness to antigenic stimuli.

Airway Anatomy: Its Importance

A clear mental picture or "gestalt" of upper airway anatomy is an essential cognitive underpinning to emergency airway management skills. For those patients presenting in extremis or with a decreased level of consciousness it may not be possible for the clinician to perform a complete airway examination. However, much can be gleaned by a systematic visual inspection of the patient that may help the clinician in managing the airway:

Anatomy and Physiology: The Upper Respiratory System

Breathe in. Feels good to fill your lungs with air and exhale it all out, doesn't it? The structures of your upper respiratory system are always working overtime—filtering air, expelling pollutants, and relying on other anatomy to remain healthy and intact.

Basic Airway Anatomy

The upper airway is the "A" of the ABCs. As the entry point for oxygen any damage to, or blockage of, the structures in the upper airway can rapidly result in unconsciousness or death. The anatomy of the upper airway can be broken down into the nose, mouth, and throat. The medical terms for these are the nasopharynx and oropharynx/larynx.

Essential Anatomy of the Airway

A thorough understanding of airway anatomy is essential for the performance of any airway procedure. Untoward events due to a procedure are usually the result of inexperience and/or an inadequate understanding of the regional anatomy. The anatomy of the airway and airway procedures are no exception. An understanding of the anatomy of the airway will result in fewer attempts at intubation and improved success with fewer iatrogenic misadventures.

Functional Anatomy and Physiology of Airway

The upper airway has an important role in transporting air to the lungs. Both the anatomical structure of the airways and the functional properties of the mucosa, cartilages, and neural and lymphatic tissues influence the characteristics of the air that is inhaled. The airway changes in size, shape, and position throughout its development from the neonate to the adults.

Structure and function of the lower airways

The upper airways (nose, oral cavity, pharynx and larynx) are quite boring, but they get their own chapter anyway. The middle conducting airways are discussed here, "conducting" being the catch-all term for air passages which have air whistling through them, but which exchange no gas.

Structure and function of the upper airways

When one refers to the upper airways, one generally means "everything above the larynx". This is a nod to the gatekeeper function of the larynx as the separator of the "shared" aerodigestive functions of the pharynx and mouth from the purely respiratory functions of the lower airway. Gaga et al (2000) and most other authors group the larynx together with the upper structures.

The Uniqueness of the Human Airway

The airway of the human is unique from all other mammals. This uniqueness allows humans to speak. It also means that any OSA research on animals is invalid before the research even starts. It is important to treat all children who have high palates, narrow dental arches, overjets, and obstructed airways as soon as possible in order to reduce the incidence of OSA in our population. Because prehistoric skulls have wide palates, good occlusion and large posterior nasal apertures, this article hypothesizes that prehistoric man did not have OSA.

Toward a Cell Atlas of the Human Airway

The cellular composition of the human airway is of significant interest because of the role of the airway in normal lung development, gas delivery to the alveoli, and mucociliary clearance and its involvement in two of the most common human diseases, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as many rarer conditions.

Upper Airway Anatomy and Function

In all nonhuman mammals, the common upper chamber for eating and breathing poses little problem, because there are functionally separate channels for breathing and eating, formed by the interdigitation of the epiglottis and the soft palate. The central channel, leading from the nose to the larynx, is for breathing, with a pathway for swallowing on either side, leading from the mouth to the esophagus.

Upper Respiratory Airways

The respiratory system is structurally divided into the upper and lower respiratory airways. The upper airways are made of the nose, nasal cavity, and pharynx while the lower airways are the larynx; trachea, bronchial tree and the lungs.

Welcome to the Anatomy of the Airway

The anatomy of the human airway is incredibly complex. Fortunately, not all structures are weighted equally in importance during airway management. Only a handful of critical anatomic landmarks are needed to help you optimize your laryngeal view and deliver an endotracheal tube to the trachea during laryngoscopy. Knowing fine anatomic detail is less important than your ability to Identify those key landmarks. However, learning a handful of anatomic structures is only part of the equation. Success also requires integrating those landmarks into a mental model. One that will help you visualize their spatial relationships and allow you to develop an understanding of their sequential relevance during laryngoscopy.

Resources

The Airway Jedi

Tips and tricks on intubation, airway management, anesthesia and safe patient care.

StatPearls

The airway, or respiratory tract, describes the organs of the respiratory tract that allow airflow during ventilation. They reach from the nares and buccal opening to the blind end of the alveolar sacs.