In this article, I’m going to explain the procedure carried out by the transplant team after the donor’s brain death. Have a look!
Deceased organ donation is regarded as the process of getting an organ from the person who was clinically declared as ‘brain dead’ by the team of doctors. Organs & tissues retrieved after deceased donation are used to carried out a number of transplants, for example, kidney, tendons, lungs, cornea, heart, skin, liver, pancreas, bones, etc. A majority of the organ transplants are carried out through the deceased donation process. Moreover, the term “Pledge your organs” used in many public awareness campaigns about organ donation, actually means deceased organ donation.
Now, let’s know about the procedure involved in deceased organ donation.
• To ensure the patient's brain death, a team of doctors from the hospital conducts a series of tests twice over a period of 4 to 6 hours.
• A death certificate is issued after the absence of stimuli, and once the death certificate has been issued, the doctors inform the donor’s family about the functioning organs that can be donated.
• If the patient is already a registered donor, the process of donation becomes easier because the donor card advocates the patient's willingness to donate organs.
• However, in both scenarios, whether the patient is a registered donor or not, since the decision belongs to the family - the organ transplant protocol is initiated only after they have given their consent.
• Once the family has given their consent, the hunt begins for a potential organ recipient.
Any person who is suffering from organ failure needs to registered themselves on the waiting list managed by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO). Once registered, the recipient must wait for a matching donor to arrive. Once an appropriate donor is identified on the basis of medical compatibility, the recipient is informed of his/her identity. After that, both the donor and the recipient are prepared for the transplantation procedure.
The factors on which the medical compatibility of the donor and the recipient depends are:
• Patient’s waiting time
• Blood type
• Body size
• The recipient’s medical condition
• Distance between the donor and recipient’s hospitals
According to the government's organ distribution policy if organs are withdrawn from the government hospitals, they will be given to the government hospital first, and then to the private hospital, in case there are no takers in the government hospital. However, If the organs are retrieved from a private hospital, they will first be offered to a private hospital.
The Bottomline
Most of the organs and tissues are transplanted through the deceased organ donation process. Currently, there is a huge shortage of sufficient organ donors in India, and with each passing year, the gap between the retrieved and the required organs is only increasing. Thus, it is our duty to make a change in society by voluntarily coming forward and taking a pledge for organ donation.
If you’re interested in becoming a donor, please register and collect your donor card from Organ India.
This article is an attempt from my side to explain to you about the deceased donation process. Thanks for reading!