Viscera (heart, lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract)
Right main bronchus
Bronchus principalis dexter
- Origin
- Tracheal bifurcation at the carina (T4-T5 level)
- Insertion
- Enters the right lung hilum after a short, steep course (~2.5 cm), dividing into the superior lobar bronchus and bronchus intermedius
- Function
- Conducts air to the three lobes of the right lung; wider, shorter, and more vertical (~25°) than the left main bronchus
- Innervation
- Pulmonary plexus
- Movement & chain
- Elastic distension during ventilation
- Palpation
- Auscultated over right anterior/posterior chest wall
- Clinical
- Most common destination for aspirated foreign bodies and gastric contents due to vertical alignment with the trachea. Predilection site for accidental endobronchial intubation.
- Segmental innervation
- T2-T5 spinal levels
- In clinical practice
- Immediate recognition of right mainstem intubation (absence of left breath sounds), tube repositioning, rigid/flexible bronchoscopy for foreign body retrieval
- Region in the model
- Viscera (heart, lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract)