Trachea

RespiratoryOrgansWhole body

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What it is
The windpipe: a flexible tube running from the cricoid cartilage (C6) down to the carina at the sternal angle (T4/T5), held open by C-shaped cartilage rings.
Function
Conducts air between the larynx and the bronchi; its ciliated mucosa sweeps mucus and trapped particles up towards the throat (mucociliary escalator).
Size
10–12 cm long and about 2 cm in outer diameter in adults, with 16–20 cartilage rings.
Clinical note
It shifts away from a tension pneumothorax and towards a collapsed lung; a tracheostomy is made through the 2nd–4th rings, just below the thyroid isthmus.

Contains Carina of trachea, Tracheal cartilages (C-rings), Trachealis muscle and membranous wall

Nearby respiratory structures Alveolar capillary network (magnified), Alveolar sacs (magnified), Pulmonary arteriole (magnified), Terminal & respiratory bronchioles (magnified)