Tracheal Disorders

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

• No links available

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Your trachea, or windpipe, is one part of your airway system. Airways are pipes that carry oxygen-rich air to your lungs. They also carry carbon dioxide, a waste gas, out of your lungs.

When you inhale, air travels from your nose, through your larynx, and down your windpipe. The windpipe splits into two bronchi that enter your lungs.

Problems with the trachea include narrowing, inflammation, and some inherited conditions. You may need a procedure called a tracheostomy to help you breathe if you have swallowing problems, or have conditions that affect coughing or block your airways. You might also need a tracheostomy if you are in critical care and need to be on a breathing machine.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

• Tracheal Diseases (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Bronchoscopy and Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• X-Ray Exam: Neck (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Tracheal or Bronchial Stent Placement (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
• Tracheostomy (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Tracheostomy - series -- Normal anatomy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Living With

• Living with a Tracheostomy Tube and Stoma (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
• Living with an Ostomy (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Airway Tumors (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Congenital High Airway Obstruction (CHAOS) (Boston Children's Hospital)
• Congenital Tracheobronchomegaly (Mounier-Kuhn Syndrome) (Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center)
• Smoke Inhalation (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Tracheomalacia (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Tracheal Diseases (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Tracheostomy-associated bleeding: prevention, recognition, and management of a potentially fatal complication.
• Article: The Role of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Airway Surgery: Experience From...
• Article: Safety and efficacy of bronchoscopic interventions for tracheobronchial mucormycosis: a 27-patient...
• Tracheal Disorders -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Larynx and Trachea (National Cancer Institute)

Find an Expert

• American Lung Association
• Find an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist) (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Children

• Bacterial Tracheitis (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
• Croup: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Esophageal Atresia and Tracheoesophageal Fistula (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Tracheal Stenosis (Boston Children's Hospital)
• Tracheoesophageal fistula repair - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Blockage of upper airway (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tracheitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tracheoesophageal fistula and esophageal atresia repair (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tracheomalacia - acquired (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tracheomalacia - congenital (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tracheostomy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish