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Organs of the neck: larynx (joints & muscles), trachea & cervical esophagus

Part 2 of 2
Published on September 30, 2025   27 min

Other Talks in the Series: Introduction to Gross Anatomy for Medicine

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Hello again, everyone. This is Dr. David Ranz from the Barcelona College of Chiropractic. Let's continue with the second part of the "Organs of the Neck".
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Now we'll proceed with the laryngeal joints. There are two important joints between the laryngeal cartilages. These are the cricoarytenoid and cricothyroid joints. The cricoarytenoid joint is a paired synovial articulation between the cricoid and arytenoid cartilages. There are two articular facets that form this joint; the superior arytenoid and the inferior cricoid facets. The arytenoids articulate with the facets located on the upper margin of the cricoid cartilage. The long axes of both facets meet posteriorly near the midline forming an angle of 50 degrees. The articular surfaces are enveloped in a thin joint capsule being the main ligament that limits the movement of this joint, the cricoarytenoid ligament, while the vocal ligament is attached to the vocal process of the arytenoid cartilage and projects anteriorly. Two principal movements occur in this joint which are rotation and gliding. Medial glide and medial rotation happen simultaneously causing depression and medial swinging of the vocal processes and thus adduction of the vocal cords. Lateral glide and lateral rotation also happen simultaneously leading to the separation and elevation of the vocal processes and therefore the abduction of the vocal cords. These movements ensure precise and synchronous movement of the vocal cords which are crucial for the act of breathing and formation. The main adductors of the joint are the lateral cricoarytenoid muscles while the main abductors are the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles that we will review in a while.

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Organs of the neck: larynx (joints & muscles), trachea & cervical esophagus

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