Xenon expenditure and nitrogen accumulation in closed-circuit anaesthesia

✍ Scribed by H. Reinelt; T. Marx; U. Schirmer; M. Schmidt

• Book ID: 104456557
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 72 KB
• Volume: 56
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0003-2409
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2044.2001.01715.x

✦ Synopsis

The high price of xenon has prevented its use in routine, clinic anaesthetic practice. Xenon therefore has to be delivered by closed-circuit anaesthesia. The accumulation of nitrogen is a significant problem within the closed circuit and necessitates flushing, which in turn increases gas expenditure and costs. In previous investigations, nitrogen concentrations between 12% and 16% have been reported in closed-circuit anaesthesia. In order to avoid such nitrogen accumulation, we denitrogenised seven pigs using a non-rebreathing system and connected the animals to a system primed with a xenon/oxygen mixture. In comparison, seven pigs were anaesthetised with xenon using a standard low-flow anaesthetic procedure. Anaesthesia time was 2 h. Nitrogen concentrations in the closed system ranged from 0.08 to 7.04% and were not significantly different from those observed during low-flow anaesthesia. Closed-circuit anaesthesia reduced the xenon expenditure 10-fold compared with low-flow anaesthesia.