Care of the organ donor

Abstract

Despite national and state programs to improve organ donation numbers, there still remains a significant disparity between potential donors and actual donors. A potential organ donor is an individual who either has irreversible cessation of whole brain function or has had a cardiac death after withdrawal of life support. Living-related and unrelated donors may also donate specific organs. The majority of transplanted organs are from donation after neurologic determination of death (DNDD, brain death), although the number of donors after cardiac death is increasing. Hemodynamic, respiratory, and endocrine management of the brain-dead patient is critical to the viability of the transplanted organs.