upper airway anatomy

  • subglottic obstruction can have reduced airway caliber during expiration

  • glottis is the opening between the vocal folds and is what makes sounds:

  • epiglottis is the flap that covers trachea to prevent food from aspirating

  • Vallecula is space between the tongue and epiglottis

  • arytenoid can refer to either the muscle or the cartilage

  • Use the glottis as landmark

  • supraglottis is area above the glottis and subglottis below

  • supraglottis goes from epiglottis to glottis

  • subglottis goes from glottis to cricoid cartilage

  • importantly, it seems both subglottic and supraglottic airway obstruction are considered extrathoracic: