Results After Implementing a Program of Intensive Care to Facilitate Organ Donation

A program of intensive care to facilitate organ donation (ICOD) represents one of the ways to increase donation rate following brain death (BD).

To analyze the impact and cost-effectiveness of setting up an ICOD strategy.

Retrospective cases of BD donors from the Spanish region La Rioja were included, after implementation of an ICOD program (2011-2016). This was activated in cases of devastating neurologic injury where treatment had been rejected following therapeutic futility criteria. Follow-up of kidney and liver transplant patients with the obtained grafts was carried out.

A total of 134 potential donors were admitted to intensive care unit (ICU), of whom 106 were selected under the ICOD strategy. BD was diagnosed in 108 cases (25 conventional donors, 83 ICOD donors). A total of 21.6% of potential ICOD donors did not evolve to BD, subsequently dying in the ICU. ICOD cases accounted for more than 50% of donors each year. This cohort had an average stay of 2.4 days in the ICU and accounted for a small proportion of total ICU admissions. A total of 68 (81.9%) ICOD donors were finally effective and 146 grafts were extracted, the majority being abdominal organs (liver and kidney). Probability of survival 1 year after liver transplant (ICOD donor) was 90.9%, with 1 case of primary graft failure. Survival 1 year after kidney transplant (ICOD donor) was 92.7%. No differences were detected in survival rates of kidney and liver transplant patients regarding donor type (ICOD vs conventional).

Implementation of an ICOD program allows an increase in the pool of valid and quality grafts for transplant as well as implying a minimum consumption of intensive medicine resources. The results in transplant patients support this strategy.