Actions of the respiratory muscles

André de Troyer

The so-called respiratory muscles are those muscles that provide the motive power for the act of breathing. Thus, although many of these muscles are involved in a variety of activities, such as speech production, cough, vomiting, and trunk motion, their primary task is to displace the chest wall rhythmically to pump gas in and out of the lungs.

The present chapter, therefore, starts with a discussion of the basic mechanical structure of the chest wall in humans. Then, the action of each group of muscles is analyzed. For the sake of clarity, the functions of the diaphragm, the intercostal muscles, the muscles of the neck, and the muscles of the abdominal wall are analyzed sequentially. However, since all these muscles normally work together in a coordinated manner, the most critical aspects of their mechanical interactions are also emphasized.