NCM 112: MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSING

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

COLLEGE OF NURSING AND ALLIED MEDICAL SCIENCES

1st SEMESTER A.Y. 2022 – 2023

ASSESSMENT OF RESPIRATORY FUNCTION The upper tract (upper airway) warms and
 Babies are born with pink lungs but filters inspired air so that the lower
they darken as we breathe polluted respiratory tract (the lungs) can
air. accomplish gas exchange.

 You breathe on an average of 14-20 GAS EXCHANGE

times per minute, 20K (approx.) per
day, 7.8M (approx.) per year, and
breathed 468M (approx.) in 60 years
of lifetime---INVOLUNTARILY.

 We lose half liter of water a day

through breathing. This is the water
vapor we see when we breathe into
a glass.

 It is impossible to breathe and

swallow simultaneously.

ANATOMIC AND PHYSIOLOGIC OVERVIEW

 Upper Respiratory Tract
 Lower Respiratory Tract

Together, the two tracts are responsible for

ventilation
*movement of air in and out of the airways
involves delivering oxygen to the tissues
through the bloodstream and expelling
waste gases, such as carbon dioxide,
during expiration.
UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT
Upper airway structures consist of the
 Nose
 Sinuses and nasal passages
 Pharynx, tonsils and adenoids,
 Larynx, and
 Trachea

THE NOSE
 Composed of an (1) external and an
(2) internal portion.

External portion: protrudes from the face

and is supported by the nasal bones and
cartilage.

HANNA JEULINE DR. PALAPAL

NCM 112: MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSING
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

COLLEGE OF NURSING AND ALLIED MEDICAL SCIENCES

1st SEMESTER A.Y. 2022 – 2023

The anterior nares (nostrils) are the

external openings of the nasal cavities.

 Nasal cavities are lined with highly

vascular ciliated mucous
membranes called the nasal
mucosa.

 Mucus, secreted continuously by

goblet cells, covers the surface of
the nasal mucosa and is moved
back to the nasopharynx by the
action of the cilia (fine hairs).

FUNCTION OF THE NOSE

 Serves as a passageway for air to
pass to and from the lungs.
 It filters impurities and humidifies
and warms the lungs as it is
inhaled.
 The air is moistened, warmed to
body temperature, and brought into
contact with sensitive nerve.
o Detect odor
(olfaction)
o Provoke sneezing
 The highest recorded sneeze speed
is 165 km/hr

PARANASAL SINUSES
 Ciliated pseudo stratified columnar
epithelium
 These air spaces are connected by
a series of ducts that drain into the
nasal cavity  The sinuses are a common site of
infection
THE SINUSES ARE NAMED BY THEIR
LOCATION: PHARYNX, TONSILS, AND ADENOIDS
 Frontal PHARYNX (THROAT)
 Ethmoidal tubelike structure that connects the nasal
 Sphenoidal and oral cavities to the larynx
 Maxillary
IT IS DIVIDED INTO THREE REGIONS:
FUNCTION OF PARANASAL SINUSES  Nasal (Nasopharynx)
 Serve as a resonating chamber in  Oral (Oropharynx)
speech  Laryngeal (Laryngopharynx)

HANNA JEULINE DR. PALAPAL

NCM 112: MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSING
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
COLLEGE OF NURSING AND ALLIED MEDICAL SCIENCES
1st SEMESTER A.Y. 2022 – 2023
 NASOPHARYNX - located posterior
to the nose and above the soft
palate.
 OROPHARYNX - houses the faucial,
or palatine, tonsils.
 LARYNGOPHARYNX - extends from
the hyoid bone to the cricoid
cartilage.
The epiglottis forms the entrance of the
larynx.
FUNCTION OF PHARYNX
The pharynx functions as a passageway for
the respiratory and digestive tracts.
ADENOIDS (PHARYNGEAL TONSILS)
located in the roof of the nasopharynx.
LARYNX
 Voice organ/voice box
 Cartilaginous epithelium-lined
structure that connects the pharynx
and the trachea.
 The major function of the larynx is
vocalization.
 It also protects the lower airway
from foreign substances and
facilitates coughing— “watchdog of
the lungs”
PARTS OF LARYNX
 Epiglottis: a valve flap of cartilage
that covers the opening to the
larynx during swallowing
 Glottis: the opening between the
vocal cords in the larynx
 Thyroid cartilage: the largest of the
cartilage structures; part of it forms
the Adam’s apple
 Cricoid cartilage: the only complete
cartilaginous ring in the larynx
 Arytenoid cartilages: used in vocal
cord movement with the thyroid
cartilage
 Vocal cords: ligaments controlled
by muscular movements that
produce sounds; located in the
lumen of the larynx
are
TRACHEA
 AKA Windpipe
 Composed of smooth muscle with C-
shaped rings of cartilage at regular
intervals
HANNA JEULINE DR. PALAPAL
NCM 112: MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSING
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

COLLEGE OF NURSING AND ALLIED MEDICAL SCIENCES

1st SEMESTER A.Y. 2022 – 2023

 The cartilaginous rings are
incomplete on the posterior surface
and give firmness to the wall of the
trachea, preventing it from
collapsing.
 The lung fill the area from the
collarbone to the bottom of the ribs.
 Lung is the only organ in the body

FUNCTION OF TRACHEA
Serves as the passage between the larynx
and the right and left main stem bronchi.

LOWER RESPIRATORY TRACT

The lower respiratory tract consists of the
lungs, which contain the bronchial and
alveolar structures needed for gas
exchange.

The lungs are paired elastic structures

light enough to float.
enclosed in the thoracic cage, which is an
airtight chamber with distensible walls.
 Size of a football (approx.)

LUNGS
Each lung is divided into lobes
 Right---3 lobes
 Left---2 lobes

HANNA JEULINE DR. PALAPAL

NCM 112: MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSING
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

COLLEGE OF NURSING AND ALLIED MEDICAL SCIENCES

1st SEMESTER A.Y. 2022 – 2023

IMPORTANCE:
The left lobe is slightly smaller than the You breathe 20,000 times (approx.) per day
involuntarily

MEDIASTINUM
 The mediastinum is in the middle of
the thorax, between the pleural
sacs that contain the two lungs.

 Heart, thymus, the aorta and vena

cava, and esophagus.

BRONCHI AND BRONCHIOLES

There are several division of the bronchi
within each lobe of the lung

1. Right and left bronchi

2. Lobar bronchi (three in the right and
two in the left lung)
3. Segmental bronchi (10 on the right
and 8 on the left)
4. Subsegmental bronchi
5. Bronchioles
6. Terminal bronchioles
7. Respiratory bronchioles------ dead
space (150mL of air)
8. Alveolar ducts and sacs
9. Alveoli

ALVEOLI
 Oxygen and carbon dioxide
exchange takes place in the alveoli.
 Arranged in clusters of 15 to 20

THREE TYPES OF ALVEOLAR CELL

Three types of alveolar cells---
(Pneumocyte)
Type I, II, and III

Type I are epithelial cells that form the

right lobe. alveolar walls.
Type II are metabolically active; secrete
surfactant
PLEURA -a phospholipid that lines the inner surface
Serous membrane that lined the lungs and and prevents alveolar collapse.
wall of the thorax. Reduces surface tension, thereby
The visceral pleura covers the lungs; the improving overall lung function
parietal pleura lines the thorax.

HANNA JEULINE DR. PALAPAL

NCM 112: MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSING
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

COLLEGE OF NURSING AND ALLIED MEDICAL SCIENCES

1st SEMESTER A.Y. 2022 – 2023

Type III alveolar cell macrophages are

large phagocytic cells that ingest foreign
matter (mucus, bacteria)
 act as an important defense
mechanism

FUNCTION OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

The respiratory system performs this
function by facilitating life-sustaining
processes such as:
 Oxygen transport
 Respiration and ventilation, and
 Gas exchange.

OXYGEN TRANSPORT
 Oxygen diffuses from the capillary
through the capillary wall to the
interstitial fluid.
 At this point, it diffuses through the
membrane of tissue cells, where it
is used by mitochondria for cellular
respiration.

RESPIRATION
This whole process of gas exchange
between the atmospheric air and the blood
and between the blood and cells of the
body is called respiration.

TRIVIA ABOUT YOUR LUNGS

 There are 300-500 million alveoli
having a total surface area of about
a tennis court in an adult.
 United to form one sheet-- 70 square
meters—the size of a tennis court.
 If all the capillaries that surround
the alveoli were unwound and laid
end to end, they would extend 1600
kilometers (approx.)

HANNA JEULINE DR. PALAPAL