lower airway

airway /air·way/ (-wa)

1. the passage by which air enters and leaves the lungs.

2. a device for securing unobstructed respiration.

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esophageal obturator airway  a tube inserted into the esophagus to maintain airway patency in unconscious persons for positive-pressure ventilation through the attached face mask.

conducting airway  the upper and lower airways considered together.

laryngeal mask airway  a device for maintaining a patent airway without tracheal intubation, consisting of a tube connected to an oval inflatable cuff that seals the larynx.

lower airway  the airway from the inferior end of the larynx to the ends of the terminal bronchioles.

nasopharyngeal airway  a tube inserted through a nostril, across the floor of the nose, and through the nasopharynx so that the tongue does not block air flow in an unconscious person.

oropharyngeal airway  a tube inserted through the mouth and pharynx so that the tongue does not block air flow in an unconscious person.

Airway. Oropharyngeal airway in place.

upper airway  the airway from the nares and lips to the larynx.

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low·er airway (lr)

n.

The portion of the respiratory tract that extends from the subglottis through the terminal bronchioles.

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lower

closer to ground surface.

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lower airway

the trachea from the entrance to the thorax, bronchi and bronchioles.

lower burner syndrome

acupuncture term meaning chronic accumulation of fluid in the lungs because of failure of the kidneys to excrete the fluid.

lower motor neuron (LMN)

the final common nervous path; the ventral horn cell in the spinal cord and the peripheral motor neuron. A lesion of a sufficient number of these neurons causes atrophy of the muscles supplied by the nerve, weak reflexes and flaccid paralysis.

lower nephron nephrosis

see renal cortical necrosis.

lower respiratory tract

the trachea, bronchial tree, lungs, pulmonary vessels and pleura.

lower urinary tract

includes, ureters, bladder and urethra.