Why a breathing hole was created in the Pope’s throat

Dear Dr,
I read in the newspapers that the Pope had a tracheotomy done. What is this? And why was it necessary?

Linda

Dear Linda,
A tracheotomy is a hole made in the windpipe (trachea) to allow a person to breathe.
When you breathe in, air travels through your nose, the back of the throat, through the windpipe into the lungs.

The windpipe is thus the passage connecting the lungs to the outside.
It starts from just below the voice box (Adam’s apple) and goes down into the chest.
You can feel it if you put a finger on either side of the front of your neck, just below the your Adam’s apple.

It is rigid, like a pipe going down the neck, and is made of cartilage. Swallowing makes it move up and down.

A few diseases cause blockage of the airway above the windpipe.
They include some cancers, enlarged lymph nodes and swallowing something ‘the wrong way’.

It can also occur when the muscles of swallowing are not able to coordinate well. This is what possibly happened with the Pope.

A person dies very quickly if any part of the airway is blocked.

To prevent this, doctors open a hole in the windpipe, where it passes near the surface of the skin.

A plastic pipe is inserted so that the hole does not close.

Air can then enter and leave the lungs through this, by-passing the blockage. This surgical procedure is not lightly done because it has many possible complications.
It may be temporary, or permanent, depending on the reason why it is done.
Nevertheless, it is a life saving and life prolonging procedure.

Dr Paul Semugoma
Ends