Artery Laryngeal Inferior

The inferior laryngeal artery is one of the large arteries of the neck, which runs from the level of the upper border of the thyroid cartilage to the subclavian artery. It is a branch of the common carotid artery and carries oxygen to the organs of the larynx.

The anatomical location of the inferior laryngeal artery depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. The right and left arteries are mirror images of each other and can be located in either the upper or lower part of the throat. The length of the artery ranges from 6 to 8 centimeters.

Knowledge of the anatomy of the throat allows you to determine the direction of the injury or puncture of the artery, as well as detect it by palpation of the neck. Bleeding and bluish discoloration of the soft tissue around the artery will indicate damage to the artery, which may lead to bleeding. With a closed wound or when an artery is blocked by foreign objects (most often bone fragments), the clinical picture will be very varied - from a sudden drop in blood pressure and fainting to collapse (a sharp drop in blood pressure).

Injuries that require surgical intervention are quite common, for example, when falling on a sharp object. The presence of a wound, bleeding and pain in the neck may indicate injury to the laryngeal artery, but additional examinations are necessary for diagnosis. First of all, this can be a survey X-ray of the neck - it allows you to detect rib fragments, bone or metal fragments in the soft tissues that can damage the artery. Ultrasound is used to accurately visualize the artery.

If, nevertheless, the artery was damaged, it is necessary to immediately call an ambulance and take the victim to a surgical hospital. There, the patient will undergo emergency diagnostics and receive the necessary assistance. The surgical operation is performed within 2-3 hours from the moment the patient arrives. The main goal of the operation is to urgently restore the patency of the laryngeal artery. If an injury to the laryngeal artery has led to acute insufficiency of blood supply to the brain and heart, the patient is taken to the hospital emergency department, where resuscitation measures are carried out. Restoring blood flow to the brain without surgery is not possible.