Organ and tissue donation in a regional paediatric intensive care unit: evaluation of practice

Abstract

All children on end-of-life care should be referred for potential organ donation. Organ donation needs to be seen as a priority for hospitals as a part of routine end-of-life care to help increase referral rates and give families the opportunity to donate. Many paediatric deaths are not referred for consideration of organ donation, despite guidelines stating that this process should be standard of care. Further optimization of referral rates may aid in increasing the number of organs available for donation. What is Known: • Shortage of organs continues to be a national problem. • NICE guidelines state that all patients who are on end-of-life care should have the option of organ donation explored. • Required referral both increases the number of donors and organs donated. What is New: • The process of identifying and referring children for paediatric organ donation. • Identifies that children are still not being referred for organ donation. • Organ donation is still not a priority for hospitals.

Saudi Parents' Knowledge and Attitude towards Pediatric Organ Donation in Al-Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…Regarding the causes of refusal, 48% do not want their child to suffer after death. Similarly, a study was done in England 36.3% [1]. Regarding the time length of the process, 21% of parents refuse for this reason, almost similar to 27.2 in England study.…”

“…While in Turkey, 7.5% of parents will agree to donate if they know the child's patient [4]. Regardless Of the general population being both aware and overall supportive of organ donation, these views can change when it comes to decision-making in a critical situation about a child [1]. Family consent to donation is affected by a set of varying cultural, personal, religious, demographic, and healthcare professional factors [8].…”

“…Organ donation is defined as the process of removing an organ or tissue surgically from one person (the organ donor) and placing it into another person (the recipient) [1]. It has become a successful worldwide treatment for many illnesses and sometimes a cure [2].More than 150 children die annually while awaiting organ transplantation in the United States and Europe [3].…”

“…Pediatric donation is still a little-discussed topic in academic circles and in the media around the world [3].Understanding factors that influence parental decisions has been demonstrated to improve both the success rate of gaining consent and the number of organs actually retrieved [1,2,3].…”

Organ Donation in Canadian PICUs: A Cross-Sectional Survey, 2021–2022*

“…Canadian legislation regarding organ and tissue donation varies across provinces with only some legislating mandatory referral (four of the responding units). Old data from Canadian adults (2009–2016) and British children (2009–2014) both identify that, in the absence of mandatory referral, less than 50% of potential donors were referred to ODOs ( 23 , 24 ). Although in a U.S. study of 11,829 pediatric deaths (2008–2019), eligible deaths were less likely to be approached for consent if they lacked timely referral to the ODO ( 7 ).…”