Word parts
What it means
An airway made through the neck into the tracheaTRAY-kee-uhThe windpipe: the tube that carries air from the throat to the lungs.Full entry , below the voice box. A curved tube sits in the opening, held by ties. It is used for long-term ventilator support, to bypass a blocked upper airway, or to make it easier to clear secretions. The opening that remains is called a stoma. The cutting procedure itself is a tracheotomytray-kee-OT-uh-meeThe surgical cut made into the windpipe through the front of the neck.trache/o windpipe-tomy cutting, incisionFull entry .
For the nurse
Keep a spare tube of the same size, one size smaller, and the obturator at the bedside. Suction as needed using sterile technique, clean the site and inner cannula per policy, and keep the ties snug (one finger fits under them). A client with a new tracheostomy needs another way to communicate, such as a writing board.
In a chart
"Trach site clean, small amount of white secretions; inner cannula changed; obturator taped at head of bed."
At a glance
| Spanish | traqueostomía |
|---|---|
| Also written | trach, tracheostomies, tracheostomy tube |
Easy to confuse with
tracheotomy
The surgical cut made into the windpipe through the front of the neck.
Related terms
mechanical ventilation
Breathing support from a machine, a ventilator, that pushes air into the lungs through a tube or a mask.
trachea
The windpipe: the tube that carries air from the throat to the lungs.
airway
The passages that carry air into and out of the lungs, from the nose and mouth to the smallest air tubes.
suctioning
Removing mucus, saliva or other secretions from the mouth, nose or airway with a tube connected to a suction source.