 General anesthesia is often administered without tracheal intubation in selected cases where the procedure is brief in duration , or procedures where the depth of anesthesia is not sufficient to cause significant compromise in ventilatory function . Even for longer duration or more invasive procedures , a general anesthetic may be administered without intubating the trachea , provided that patients are carefully selected , and the risk @-@ benefit ratio is favorable ( i.e. , the risks associated with an unprotected airway are believed to be less than the risks of intubating the trachea ) . 
