Utilization of intensive care units' beds occupied by brain-dead patients

To evaluate the utilization of critical care unit beds occupied by brain-dead patients during the period falling between confirmation of the diagnosis till, either, organ harvesting or patient's expiration. We studied all the consecutive patients who had been documented brain-dead from January 2001 to December 2009. Death by brain criteria was documented in 232 patients with a median age of 39 ± 18.2 years; 181 (78%) were Saudis and 175 (75.5%) were males. Only 37 deceased patients diagnosed by brain criteria were consented by their next-of-kin for organ donation; 26 (70.1%) of them were non-Saudis. The time from confirming death by brain criteria in the study patients until they were moved to a morgue or to the operating room for retrieval of organs were 93 ± 89.9 vs. 73 ± 48 h, respectively (P = 0.07). In conclusion, I believe a better utilization of the intensive care units' beds by other than brain-dead patients would not produce great cost savings, but may provide care for more patients with better quality of care.