Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to the anatomy of the airways and lungs and how it is relevant to the management of artificial ventilation. The route through which air enters and leaves the lungs is known as the respiratory pathway or tree. This is conveniently divided into upper and lower airways. The upper and most of the lower airways are involved only in humidification and conduction of air to the extreme parts of the lung, where oxygen transfer takes place to the blood. At the level of the nose and pharynx the airway is shared with the food pathway to the oesophagus. The larynx plays a key role in protecting the airway from the entrance of food and other foreign bodies. Each level of the respiratory tree is associated with potential problems with the management of airways and the provision of artificial ventilation. An understanding of the structure of the airways and lungs is essential to successful management of the airway and artificial ventilation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Suggestions for Further Reading
Lumb AB. Nunn’s respiratory physiology. 7th ed. London: Churchill Livinstone; 2010.
West JB. Respiratory physiology: the essentials. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins; 2005.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Baker, D.J. (2020). The Structure of the Airways and Lungs. In: Artificial Ventilation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55408-8_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55408-8_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55407-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-55408-8
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)