BackgroundThe postoperative cognitive function is impaired in elderly patients after general anaesthesia. The fast recovery after xenon anaesthesia was hypothesized to be advantageous in this scenario. We compared early postoperative cognitive function after xenon and sevoflurane anaesthesia in this study.MethodsThe study was approved by the local ethics committee and written informed consent was obtained from each patient. Patients aged 65-75 years (ASA I-III) scheduled for elective surgery (duration 60-180 min) were enrolled. Investigators performing cognitive testing and patients were blinded towards allocation to either xenon or sevoflurane anaesthesia. Baseline assessment of cognitive function was carried out 12-24 h before the operation. The results were compared to follow-up tests 6-12 and 66-72 h after surgery. Primary outcome parameter was the subtest "Alertness" of the computerized Test of Attentional Performance (TAP). Secondary outcome parameters included further subtests of the TAP, several Paper-Pencil-Tests, emergence times from anaesthesia, modified Aldrete scores and patients' well-being.Results40 patients were randomized and equally allocated to both groups. No significant differences were found in the TAP or the Paper-Pencil-Tests at 6-12 and 66-72 h after the operation. All emergence times were faster after xenon anaesthesia. The modified Aldrete scores were significantly higher during the first hour in the xenon group. No difference in well-being could be detected between both groups.ConclusionsThe results show no difference in the incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) after xenon or sevoflurane anaesthesia. Emergence from general anaesthesia was faster in the xenon group.

We found the aepEX monitor to provide index in the range of adequate depth of xenon anaesthesia, when combined with remifentanil infusion in intubated patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery.

ObjectiveLike other inhalational anesthetics xenon seems to be associated with post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV). We assessed nausea incidence following balanced xenon anesthesia compared to sevoflurane, and dexamethasone for its prophylaxis in a randomized controlled trial with post-hoc explorative analysis.Methods220 subjects with elevated PONV risk (Apfel score ≥2) undergoing elective abdominal surgery were randomized to receive xenon or sevoflurane anesthesia and dexamethasone or placebo after written informed consent. 93 subjects in the xenon group and 94 subjects in the sevoflurane group completed the trial. General anesthesia was maintained with 60% xenon or 2.0% sevoflurane. Dexamethasone 4mg or placebo was administered in the first hour. Subjects were analyzed for nausea and vomiting in predefined intervals during a 24h post-anesthesia follow-up.ResultsLogistic regression, controlled for dexamethasone and anesthesia/dexamethasone interaction, showed a significant risk to develop nausea following xenon anesthesia (OR 2.30, 95% CI 1.02–5.19, p = 0.044). Early-onset nausea incidence was 46% after xenon and 35% after sevoflurane anesthesia (p = 0.138). After xenon, nausea occurred significantly earlier (p = 0.014), was more frequent and rated worse in the beginning. Dexamethasone did not markedly reduce nausea occurrence in both groups. Late-onset nausea showed no considerable difference between the groups.ConclusionIn our study setting, xenon anesthesia was associated with an elevated risk to develop nausea in sensitive subjects. Dexamethasone 4mg was not effective preventing nausea in our study. Group size or dosage might have been too small, and change of statistical analysis parameters in the post-hoc evaluation might have further contributed to a limitation of our results. Further trials will be needed to address prophylaxis of xenon-induced nausea.Trial RegistrationEU Clinical Trials EudraCT-2008-004132-20ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00793663

BackgroundCurriculum mapping, which is aimed at the systematic realignment of the planned, taught, and learned curriculum, is considered a challenging and ongoing effort in medical education. Second-generation curriculum managing systems foster knowledge management processes including curriculum mapping in order to give comprehensive support to learners, teachers, and administrators. The large quantity of custom-built software in this field indicates a shortcoming of available IT tools and standards.ObjectiveThe project reported here aims at the systematic adoption of techniques and standards of the Social Semantic Web to implement collaborative curriculum mapping for a complete medical model curriculum.MethodsA semantic MediaWiki (SMW)-based Web application has been introduced as a platform for the elicitation and revision process of the Aachen Catalogue of Learning Objectives (ACLO). The semantic wiki uses a domain model of the curricular context and offers structured (form-based) data entry, multiple views, structured querying, semantic indexing, and commenting for learning objectives (“LOs”). Semantic indexing of learning objectives relies on both a controlled vocabulary of international medical classifications (ICD, MeSH) and a folksonomy maintained by the users. An additional module supporting the global checking of consistency complements the semantic wiki. Statements of the Object Constraint Language define the consistency criteria. We evaluated the application by a scenario-based formative usability study, where the participants solved tasks in the (fictional) context of 7 typical situations and answered a questionnaire containing Likert-scaled items and free-text questions.ResultsAt present, ACLO contains roughly 5350 operational (ie, specific and measurable) objectives acquired during the last 25 months. The wiki-based user interface uses 13 online forms for data entry and 4 online forms for flexible searches of LOs, and all the forms are accessible by standard Web browsers. The formative usability study yielded positive results (median rating of 2 (“good”) in all 7 general usability items) and produced valuable qualitative feedback, especially concerning navigation and comprehensibility. Although not asked to, the participants (n=5) detected critical aspects of the curriculum (similar learning objectives addressed repeatedly and missing objectives), thus proving the system’s ability to support curriculum revision.ConclusionsThe SMW-based approach enabled an agile implementation of computer-supported knowledge management. The approach, based on standard Social Semantic Web formats and technology, represents a feasible and effectively applicable compromise between answering to the individual requirements of curriculum management at a particular medical school and using proprietary systems.