Evaluation of Organ Donation Rates Among in Patients With Anticipated Imminent Brain Death

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the progression of brain death in close follow-up of comatose patients in intensive care unit (ICU), to reveal the data on epidemiological and clinical characteristics of brain death diagnosis process and the importance of timing of different stages of current procedures. Materials and Methods: This study was planned as a single-center, prospective, cross-sectional study. Patients who were treated in ICU between 2015-2017 and who were diagnosed as Glasgow Coma score <8 without sedation were included in the study. Results: Of the 79 patients diagnosed with brain death, 34 (43%) of their families provided consent for organ donation. However, only 26 (32.9%) of these patients actually became donors. The group that consented for organ donation had a significantly shorter time period between the declaration of brain death and the interview with the patient families about organ donation (median 12.5 minutes, 5-60 minutes) than the group that did not consent for organ donation (median 30 minutes, 2-60 minutes) (p=0.019). Conclusion: We believe that it is possible to increase organ donation rates by carefully monitoring the patients with low coma score as they progress to brain death in intensive care units, providing detailed information to families and conducting organ donation interview with the family as soon as possible after brain death notification.