Answer to Morticians Never Die, they just Rub Away
Correct answer is D, the trachea. An endotracheal tube must travel below the vocal cords, but just above the carina. If driven to the level of the carina, it is possible for the tube to slip into one of the primary bronchi and fail to supply the contralateral lung with air. While the scenario of this question may seem unreal, the possibility does exist. Morticians now regularly wear gloves to avoid contagion with any diseases that may have cause the patients death, but also because of the number of fentanyl containing patches they must remove from patients. This was not the case years ago. One way to envision the fentanyl transmission is that the sticky patch, once removed from the patient, sticks to the mortician accidentally.
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Answer to this question is based on material presented in lectures 6 of the Thorax Lecture Series.
= Right primary bronchus
= Termination of trachea
= Left primary bronchus
= Trachea
= Carina