What is the area between the base of the tongue and the epiglottis called?

What is the area between the base of the tongue and the epiglottis called?

The wedge-shaped space formed between the base of the tongue and epiglottic is the valleculae. The valleculae and the pyriform sinuses are known as the pharyngeal recesses or side pockets, into which food may fall and reside before or after the swallowing reflex triggers.

What is the vallecula?

Vallecula is a term that means depression in something. The epiglottic vallecula consists of a small mucosa-lined depression (vallecula) located at the base of the tongue just between the folds of the throat on either side of the median glossoepiglottic fold.

What is the vallecula made of?

[vah-lek´u-lah] (L.) a depression or furrow. vallecula cerebel´li a longitudinal fissure on the inferior cerebellum, in which the medulla oblongata rests. vallecula syl´vii a depression made by the fissure of Sylvius at the base of the brain.

What is the vallecula groove?

: an anatomical groove, channel, or depression especially : one between the base of the tongue and the epiglottis.

Is the vallecula part of the pharynx?

The vallecula epiglottica is a borderline area between the pharynx and the larynx, though covered by the epiglottis, and a functionally strategic site and breeding ground for epidermoid carcinoma, but it has remained unappreciated by anatomists.

What is effacement of vallecula?

At night, when a person is asleep, the vallecula traps the saliva so that the swallowing reflex is not constantly triggered. https://www.statpearls.com/ArticleLibrary/viewarticle/21235. In medical terms, “effacement” is the thinning or obliteration of tissue or narrowing of an internal anatomical space.

What is the function of the Epiglottic Vallecula?

The epiglottic vallecula is a depression (vallecula) just behind the root of the tongue between the folds in the throat. These depressions serve as “spit traps”; saliva is temporarily held in the valleculae to prevent initiation of the swallowing reflex.

Where is the vallecula in the throat?

The vallecula, which is the space between the base of the tongue and the epiglottis, forms the inferior border of the oropharynx. This is typically at the level of the hyoid bone.

What is Glossoepiglottic fold?

The anterior or lingual surface of the epiglottis is curved forward, and covered on its upper, free part by mucous membrane which is reflected on to the sides and root of the tongue, forming a median and two lateral glossoepiglottic folds; the lateral folds are partly attached to the wall of the pharynx.

Where is the Macintosh blade inserted?

Intubation is usually performed with a laryngoscope. The Macintosh and Miller blades are most commonly used. The Macintosh blade is curved, and the tip is inserted into the vallecula (the space between the base of the tongue and the pharyngeal surface of the epiglottis) (Fig. 14.4A).

What is the name of the structure that divides the pharynx from the esophagus?

Pharynx, tonsils, and soft palate (Fig. The pharynx is a space that connects the mouth with the esophagus, and the nasal cavity with the larynx. The soft palate divides the pharynx into the nasopharynx dorsally and the oropharynx ventrally.

What causes pooling in the vallecula?

Pooling occurs when a person’s swallow does not successfully send the entire mass of food or liquid into the esophagus, so that some or all of the material remains in the hypopharynx. In such cases, the material commonly pools in the vallecula and pyriform sinuses.