[Xenon--a new anesthetic]

Today, xenon anaesthesia becomes an interesting object due to xenon's positive ecological aspects as well as its nearly ideal properties as an anaesthetic gas. The application of xenon provides advantages regarding intraoperative hemodynamic stability and the recovery period. Xenon increases tissue perfusion in most organ systems. This increase of tissue perfusion during an operation can be important during some surgical procedures and may improve postoperative outcome. In anaesthetic concentrations xenon leads to an increase in cerebral perfusion. For that reason, xenon should be avoided in patients with increased cerebral pressure or cerebral perfusion disorders. Therefore, further clinical investigations are necessary to improve these clinical findings. The development of accepted indications of xenon anaesthesia becomes necessary regarding a limited availability and high costs of the gas. Focussing this target, more clinical and experimental investigations will become necessary in the next years.