Nonemergently

Except in cases of extreme prematurity or debilitation, operative treatment is indicated urgently but nonemergently, with little merit in delay.

It is especially important to prevent rather than treat acute respiratory failure because the hospital survival rates of patients with acute respiratory failure undergoing endotracheal intubation or tracheostomy (emergently or nonemergently) have not improved over the past 20 years.

Patients with more than three or four episodes a year should be referred nonemergently to an ENT physician.