Successful organ donation in victims of child abuse

Organ transplantation has become a valuable and accepted treatment for many patients with organ failure. A major limitation to transplantation is the shortage of organ donors. Due to lack of willingness by medical examiners to release child abuse cases for organ donation, child abuse victims are a greatly underutilized pool of potential donors. This paper presents a model to facilitate organ recovery in the child abuse victim. This protocol has been in consistent use in San Diego County since midyear 1991. In all cases of child abuse where the victim was brain dead and the family consented to organ donation, the medical examiner's office released the body for organ donation. Since institution of the model described in this paper, organ donation among child abuse victims has risen dramatically in San Diego County. If similar protocols are established at other pediatric centers, the disparity between supply and demand in pediatric organ donation will diminish.