Outcome measures in solid organ donor management research: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Organ transplantation
• Critical care medicine
• Systematic review methodology

Background:

• Donor management interventions are crucial for optimizing organ viability.
• Existing research primarily focuses on donor stability and physiological outcomes.
• A comprehensive understanding of outcome measures in donor management trials is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and analyze outcome measures used in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of donor management interventions.
• To identify trends and gaps in outcome reporting within this field.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of multiple databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, Web of Science) and trial registries.
• Inclusion of RCTs published from 1980 to February 2021.
• Analysis of 22 RCTs involving 3432 donors.

Main Results:

• Most RCTs (63.6%) reported single-organ outcomes.
• Common interventions included thyroid hormones and methylprednisolone.
• Few studies assessed multi-organ effects or recipient outcomes, such as quality of life.

Conclusions:

• Current donor management RCTs predominantly focus on single-organ outcomes or donor stability.
• There is a critical need to incorporate patient-centered recipient outcomes.
• Standardization of outcome measures is essential for future donor management research.