Affiliation:
1. Pediatric Department Centro Hospitalar Entre Douro e Vouga Santa Maria da Feira Portugal
2. Pediatric Department Unidade Local de Saúde Do Alto Minho Viana do Castelo Portugal
3. Intensive Care Unit Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João Porto Portugal
4. Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Department Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João Porto Portugal
5. Faculty of Medicine University of Porto Porto Portugal
Abstract
ABSTRACTBackgroundPediatric organ donors represent a small but important portion of the deceased donor pool, helping both children and adults in the transplant waitlist. Despite this, pediatric donation remains an overlooked subject of research.MethodsRetrospective, single‐center, descriptive study. All brain death patients under 18 years old who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between January 1st, 2006, and December 31st, 2021, and who were eligible for organ donation were included.ResultsBetween January 2006 and December 2021, 200 children/adolescent died in the ICU. From those, 62 patients (31%) were considered eligible for organ donation. The mean age of the donors at the time of death was 8.8 years. Sixty‐three per cent were male. The most frequent cause of death was traumatic brain injury (n = 36). Two hundred and fifty organs were collected benefitting 202 persons with a recipient/donor ratio of 3.3. Kidneys were the most frequent organ donated (n = 116), followed by liver (n = 56) and heart (n = 34). The median number of organs donated per child was four, with a minimum of 1 organ and maximum of 8.ConclusionsPediatric organ donation represents a small proportion of overall organ donation, but children and adolescents have important impact on the lives they save. The field of pediatric organ donation needs more research to better understand the contribution of the pediatric population to both adults and children who wait for an organ.