Donation after Circulatory Death

Donation after circulatory death

Allows patients with no prognosis and planned withdrawal of care to be considered for organ donation. 

Medically the patient is assessed as having no chance of recovery and together with the family the decision is to withdraw futile intensive care support. In this setting it is possible to donate all organs except the heart, as upon withdrawal of support and cardiac arrest the patient can, after 5 minutes, be certified dead. 

The transplant team is required, prior to this, to be in theatre and ready to operate immediately in order to limit the warm ischaemic damage which occurs in this type of donation. 

Logistics are challenging but well worth the effort as many more patients are able to be offered a chance of transplantation.