The trachea is a part of the respiratory system. It enables inhaled air to move in and out of our lungs and to maintain and protect the airway. It is a tube-like structure that is found starting from the neck and extending into the thorax or the chest area. Aside from its primary function to allow air to go in and out of the lungs, it also plays an important role in allowing the food that we swallow to travel well down into the stomach.
One of the most common tracheal disorders is called tracheal stenosis. It is the constricting or the narrowing of the airway due to injury, trauma, and inflammatory diseases and for some people, tracheal stenosis is a birth defect that is present during birth.
Symptoms may vary, for some it develops after an acute injury or trauma takes place. For a newborn, the symptoms of tracheal stenosis are more persistent or obvious. It includes recurring pneumonia, wheezing, cyanosis (blue-spells), apnoea (breathing pauses), noisy breathing (stridor) and chest congestion.
Diagnosis
Tracheal stenosis can be diagnosed with:
Treatment