Label the Parts of a Tracheostomy Tube

All 9 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The tube 6

Neck plate The flat plate that rests on the neck's front. It has a slot at each end. It is also called the flange.
Tracheostomy ties Go around the neck to hold the tube in place. They pass through the slots in the neck plate. They are also called trach ties.
Outer cannula The outer cannula is the main tube. It stays in place and keeps the airway open.
Fenestration A fenestration is an opening in the curve of the outer cannula. It lets air pass up through the voice box. Only some tubes have one.
Cuff The cuff is a balloon round the tube near its lower end. Inflated, it seals the space between the tube and the wall of the windpipe.
Pilot balloon Shows whether the cuff is inflated. It stays outside the body, joined to the cuff by a thin line.

Pieces that fit inside 3

Inner cannula Fits inside the outer cannula. It can be taken out while the outer one stays in place.
15 mm connector The round end that breathing equipment pushes onto. Its size is a standard one.
Obturator Fills the outer cannula so that its end is smooth and rounded. Used while the tube is put in, then taken out.

How this list was compiled: Part names checked on 2026-09-30; a name is kept only when two independent sources use it. (1) International standard ISO 5366-1:2000, Tracheostomy tubes, part 1, read in its Indian adoption, https://archive.org/details/gov.in.is.iso.5366.1.2000, with IS 12505-2:1988, https://archive.org/details/gov.in.is.12505.2.1988, counted together as one source (outer tube, inner tube, neck-plate, cuff, inflating tube, pilot balloon that indicates inflation of the cuff, introducer or obturator, the 15 mm connector). (2) Saskatoon Health Region, nursing learning package on artificial airways in adults, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6030480 (outer cannula, inner cannula and its adapter for breathing equipment, obturator, cuff, pilot balloon, neck plate, fenestrated tubes; its figure legend reads 15 mm connector of inner cannula through a poor scan). (3) A home health agency's written procedures, Meridian at Home, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5948820 (tracheostomy ties, flanges, inner cannula, outer cannula, obturator, the cuff's pilot balloon). (4) Wikipedia, Tracheotomy, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracheotomy (outer cannula or main shaft, inner cannula, obturator, cuffed tubes, fenestrated tubes). (5) MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine, Tracheostomy care, https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000076.htm (trach ties). (6) US Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 868.5800, Tracheostomy tube and tube cuff, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/section-868.5800 (the cuff and its seal against the tracheal wall). The sources were read for names only. Agencies and publishers are named here only; the page names none. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; own work, no maker's model copied. Licence: own work

How it works

To label the diagram of the tracheostomy tube, write a name on the line for each number. Numbers 1 to 6 are on the tube as it comes, 7 to 9 on the two pieces that fit inside. Names only, nothing on tracheostomy care.

Read the full guide

Tracheostomy tube word bank

In alphabetical order, to copy onto the board: 15 mm connector, cuff, fenestration, inner cannula, neck plate, obturator, outer cannula, pilot balloon, tracheostomy ties.

The numbers that get swapped

Three rings stand to the right of the curved tube. Number 4 points at the dark oval high in the curve, 3 at the wall of the tube itself, and 5 at the soft bulge round its lower end. Number 6 is the small bulb off to the left, not the bulge. In the lower drawing, 7 is the hollow curved tube and 8 only the wide collar on its end; 9 is the solid rod with the rounded tip.

When marking, flange is right on line 1, trach ties on 2, outer tube on 3, inner tube on 7 and introducer on 9.
The thin line joining the bulge to the small bulb has no number. Nor has the round opening in the flat bar at the top.
The tube drawn is a dual-lumen one, also called double-cannula. A single-lumen tube has no inner cannula that comes out.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between a tracheostomy and a tracheotomy?

The roots differ. Tracheotomy has the Greek for to cut, and names the cut made in the front of the neck. Tracheostomy has the Greek for mouth, and names the lasting opening and the making of it. Both words are used for the procedure.

What does cannula mean?

Wikipedia's Cannula article gives it as Latin for little reed: a tube that can be put into the body. The plural is cannulas or cannulae. This worksheet has two: number 3, and number 7, which fits inside it.

What does fenestrated mean on a tracheostomy tube?

Fenestra is the Latin word for window, and a fenestration is a small opening (Wikipedia, Fenestra). A fenestrated tube has one hole or several in its outer cannula. Number 4 on this worksheet is a single one.

Is a tracheostomy tube the same as an endotracheal tube?

No. Wikipedia's Tracheal tube article lists both as tracheal tubes, which sit in the windpipe. An endotracheal tube nearly always goes in through the mouth or nose. A tracheostomy tube is curved and goes in through an opening in the front of the neck.