2021 Volume 56 Issue 4 Pages 397-403
【Objective】 We examined the degree to which the prerequisites for brain death were met, and examine the actual conditions and factors that led to the loss of organ donation even though the prerequisites for brain death were met, if possible donors, who were likely to become brain dead, were selected automatically at the time of admission, as in Spain, which was the world’s No. 1 country in terms of the number of organ donations.
【Design】 cohort study.
【Methods】 This was a single-center, retrospective study of patients under 75 years of age who met criteria for possible donors and were discharged dead from the emergency department. We investigated the prerequisites for brain death, the conditions that could be considered brain death, and the percentage of patients who were offered the option of organ donation, and then examined the factors that contributed to these patients’ conditions at the time of admission and the treatment and patient care after admission.
【Results】 One-third of the possible donors died and were discharged from the hospital, and the possibility of organ donation gradually decreased with each step, with only 3% of the possible donors eventually becoming organ donors. The diagnosis of brain death was influenced by the post-hospitalization treatment and the understanding of transplantation medicine by the attending physician.
【Conclusion】 Early multidisciplinary intervention in possible donors may lead to transplantation care with less burden on both medical personnel and families.
