Right main bronchus

Function

The right main bronchus is wider, shorter (≈2.5 cm) and more vertical than its left twin — the geometry that makes it the preferred landing site of aspirated foreign bodies and misplaced breathing tubes.

It gives off its first branch — the upper lobe bronchus — almost immediately after entering the lung, then continues as the bronchus intermedius to supply the middle and lower lobes: ten segmental bronchi in all.

Blood supply

Right bronchial arteries from the aorta.

Nerve supply

Right vagal and sympathetic pulmonary plexuses.

Clinical relevance

Aspiration pneumonia

Aspirated material usually enters the right lower lobe — its basal segments when upright; the superior segment of the lower lobe or posterior segment of the upper lobe when lying supine.

Inhaled foreign body

Peanuts, teeth and small toys lodge here; sudden choking with unilateral absent breath sounds demands rigid bronchoscopy.

Related conditions

• Asthma
• Lung cancer
• Bronchiectasis
• Acute bronchitis