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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
Diagnosis and Tests
- Bronchoscopy and Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
- Tests for Lung Disease (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
- X-Ray Exam: Neck (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Treatments and Therapies
- Tracheostomy - series -- Normal anatomy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Living With
- Choking: First Aid (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
- Living with an Ostomy (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- Vocal Fold Paralysis (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Tracheal Diseases (National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Building and validating an artificial intelligence model to identify tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica...
- Article: Pediatric Tracheotomy Stomal Maturation and Tracheocutaneous Fistulas.
- Article: Complicated Airway Management Because of Multiple Tracheal Diverticula in a Patient...
- Tracheal Disorders -- see more articles
Find an Expert
- American Lung Association
- Find an ENT (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 (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
- Tracheoesophageal fistula repair - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Tracheostomy (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Blockage of upper airway (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Swallowing problems (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