The editorial by Takahisa Goto, Yoshinori Nakata, and Shigeho Morita discusses the potential and challenges of using xenon as an anesthetic agent. Despite xenon’s known anesthetic properties since over 50 years ago, its high cost and production challenges have limited its widespread use.

Key Points:

• Properties of Xenon: Xenon has many ideal characteristics for anesthesia, such as rapid emergence, non-teratogenicity, analgesia without hemodynamic depression, and potent hypnotic properties.
• Cost Analysis: The cost of xenon is significant, around $10 per liter, which impacts its feasibility in clinical settings. However, its low solubility means that smaller amounts are needed, reducing overall costs somewhat.
• Environmental and Medical Benefits: Xenon is environmentally friendly compared to other anesthetics as it is not a greenhouse gas and does not deplete the ozone layer. Medically, it offers rapid recovery and minimal side effects, which could potentially improve outcomes in high-risk patients.
• Production and Market Factors: The editorial highlights the fluctuating costs of xenon due to supply and demand dynamics and suggests that future technological innovations and increased market demand might reduce its cost.

Conclusions:

The editorial concludes that while xenon has promising features as an anesthetic, its high cost and the energy-intensive production process pose significant challenges. It calls for further research to evaluate xenon’s benefits in high-risk patients to justify its cost.