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Main bronchus proper: anatomy, location and function

The right main (primary) bronchus, the extrapulmonary airway from the carina to the hilum of the right lung. It conducts air into the right lung, which it supplies through the superior lobar bronchus and the intermediate bronchus to the middle and inferior lobes.

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Highlighted in the model: Main bronchus proper. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Main bronchus proper at a glance

What it is
The right main (primary) bronchus, the extrapulmonary airway from the carina to the hilum of the right lung.
Location
It runs from the carina to the hilum of the right lung, below the arch of the azygos vein and behind the superior vena cava and right pulmonary artery. It gives off the right superior lobar bronchus before entering the hilum, then continues as the intermediate bronchus.
Function
It conducts air into the right lung, which it supplies through the superior lobar bronchus and the intermediate bronchus to the middle and inferior lobes.
Body system
Respiratory · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA68418 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • It is about 2.5 cm long, wider and shorter than the left main bronchus, and runs more vertically, at about 25 degrees from the vertical.
  • The right lung usually has 10 bronchopulmonary segments.
  • C-shaped cartilage rings reinforce its wall, with smooth muscle bridging their open posterior ends.

Clinical relevance

Inhaled foreign objects and a misplaced endotracheal tube enter the right main bronchus more often than the left, because it is wider and more in line with the trachea.

Structures next to the main bronchus proper

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Main bronchus proper (FMA68418). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §22.1 Organs and Structures of the Respiratory System. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.