Respiratory Tract Flashcards
What is the purpose of the respiratory tract?
The process of respiration
What are the 2 components of the respiratory tract?
- Upper respiratory tract
- Lower respiratory tract
What is included within the upper respiratory tract?
- Nose
- Paranasal sinuses
- Mouth (including tonsils)
- Thorax/pharynx
- Larynx (then down into the lower respiratory tract)
How would you treat a nose bleed?
- Tilt head forwards
- Pinch nose at bridge of nose (part with cartilage)
- If after 10/15 minutes it hasn’t stopped - really serious
- Use a tissue to put pressure on the nose (nasal packing)
What is included in the external portion of the nose?
- Protuberance is nostrils
- Central, midline of face
- Skin, muscle, bone, and HYALNE cartilage
- Lined by mucous membranes
What is included in the internal portion of the nose?
- Nasal cavity Which is superior and posterior to the nose, inferior and anterior to the cranial fossa and superior to the mouth
- Ducts from paranasal sinuses open in the internal portion of the nose, as well as nasolacrimal ducts
- Nasal septum
What is the nasal septum made from?
Cartilage and bones
What is the type of epithelium in the respiratory segment of the nose?
Ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium
What is the type of epithelium in the olfactory segment of the nose?
Ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium + olfactory receptors
What is the name of the only nerve in the body that is able to completely regenerate?
The olfactory nerve
What is the function of the chonchae/turbinates inside the nose?
Warms and filters air
What are the functions of the paranasal sinuses?
- Vocal resonance
- Modification of speech
What are sinuses?
Air-filled spaces within the bones of the skull and the face
What is an oral-antral fistula?
- An opening is created between a paranasal sinus and the mouth
What is the definition of a fistula?
Abnormal communication existing between 2 epithelium lined organs that do not normally connect
What is the pharynx and what does it do?
- Muscular tube - from base of skull to oesophagus
- Conducts air
- Muscles direct food to oesophagus
- 3 parts: naso-, oro-, and laryngo-
What is included within the lower respiratory tact?
- Larynx
- Trachea
- R and L bronchus
- Lungs
- Blood - air barrier
What is another name for the larynx and what is its function?
- Voicebox - sounds are generated here
- From C3-6
- Act as a sphincter
What is the hyoid bone and what is its function?
- The only bone in the body not joined to any other bone
- Helps open the larynx
What is another name for the thyroid cartilage?
- Adams apple
What is different about cricoid cartilage?
Only cartilage that forms a complete ring of cartilage around the pharynx
What is included in the skeleton of the larynx?
- Arytenoid cartilage (x2)
- Corniculate (x2) and cuneiform (x2)
- Epiglottis (x1)
What does the vocal cord sit below in the larynx?
The ventricle
What procedure can be done if there is an obstruction above the vocal fold in the larynx and what could have caused this obstruction?
- Cricothyroidotomy
- When there is a foreign object in the upper airway
- Facial trauma
- Oedema of glottis (excessive accumulation of fluid, mainly water, in the tissue spaces of the body. A swelling caused by fluid accumulation in the soft tissue of the larynx)
