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Posterior crico-arytenoid: anatomy, location and function

An intrinsic laryngeal muscle on the back of the cricoid cartilage. Abducts the vocal folds by rotating the arytenoid cartilages, opening the rima glottidis for breathing.

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Highlighted in the model: Posterior crico-arytenoid. 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.

Posterior crico-arytenoid at a glance

What it is
An intrinsic laryngeal muscle on the back of the cricoid cartilage.
Location
Originates from the posterior surface of the cricoid lamina and inserts onto the muscular process of the arytenoid cartilage.
Function
Abducts the vocal folds by rotating the arytenoid cartilages, opening the rima glottidis for breathing.
Body system
Muscular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA46578 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Innervation: recurrent laryngeal nerve (CN X)
  • The only abductor of the vocal folds

Clinical relevance

Bilateral paralysis can cause life-threatening airway obstruction.

Structures next to the posterior crico-arytenoid

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

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Posterior crico-arytenoid (FMA46578). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. 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.

Related anatomy

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