Trachea | Structure, Function & Location | Britannica (original) (raw)

trachea, in vertebrates and invertebrates, a tube or system of tubes that carries air. In insects, a few land arachnids, and myriapods, the trachea is an elaborate system of small, branching tubes that carry oxygen to individual body cells; in most land vertebrates, the trachea is the windpipe, which conveys air from the larynx to the two main bronchi, with the lungs and their air sacs as the ultimate destination. In some birds, such as the swan, there is an extra length of tracheal tube coiled under the front of the rib cage. The cartilaginous structures that ring most mammalian tracheae are reduced to small irregular nodules in amphibians.

In man the trachea is about 15 centimetres (6 inches) long and 2 to 3 centimetres in diameter. The trachea serves as passage for air, moistens and warms it while it passes into the lungs, and protects the respiratory surface from an accumulation of foreign particles. The trachea is lined with a moist mucous-membrane layer composed of cells containing small hairlike projections called cilia. The cilia project into the channel (lumen) of the trachea to trap particles. There are also cells and ducts in the mucous membrane that secrete mucus droplets and water molecules. At the base of the mucous membrane there is a complex network of tissue composed of elastic and collagen fibres that aid in the expansion, contraction, and stability of the tracheal walls. Also in this layer there are numerous blood and lymphatic vessels; the blood vessels control cellular maintenance and heat exchange, while the lymphatic vessels remove the foreign particles collected by the wall’s surface. Around the tracheal wall there is a series of 16 to 20 horseshoe-shaped cartilage rings. They encircle the front part of the trachea but are open where the trachea lies next to the esophagus. Here the free ends of the cartilage are connected by muscle bands. Since the cartilage is in individual rings, rather than one continuous sheath, the trachea can stretch and descend with the breathing movements. The cartilage bands are replaced with fibrous scar tissue in advanced age.

Muscle fibres run over and alongside the cartilage, as well as through the mucous membrane. They serve to narrow and shorten the passageway in breathing. They also may contract in cold weather and when smoke, dust, or chemical irritants are in the inhaled air. During coughing, which is a forced exhalation, the muscle bands connecting the free cartilage ends press inward so that the tracheal lumen is about one-sixth of its normal size. Air rushing through this narrow channel travels at high velocities and is thus able to dislodge foreign elements from the trachea.

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Rick Livingston.