The dynamics of organ donation in the Anesthesia and Intensive Care Clinic of Târgu-Mureș County Emergency Clinical Hospital

Abstract

Background: Medical, psychological, social and even technological aspects can influence the process of organ donation.

Objective: This research sought to analyse the organ donation activities in the Anesthesia and Intensive Care Clinic of the Târgu-Mureș County Emergency Clinical Hospital from 2019 to 2024. Additionally, the study intended to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these activities.

Material and Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study on 136 patients from the Anesthesia and Intensive Care Clinic of the Târgu-Mureș County Emergency Clinical Hospital. The criteria for inclusion were patients who were officially diagnosed with brain death from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2024.

Results: A comparison of the total number of cases diagnosed with brain death per year did not yield any statistically significant difference over the six years of interest (p=0.25). Nonetheless, our data analysis revealed a declining trend of donor registries in the more recent years. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), organ donation was impacted as fewer patients were being diagnosed with brain death. An increase in the number of brain death patients in 2021 and 2022 has resulted in a subsequent increase in the number of donors. The overall trend, however, continues to be downwards due to other factors such as the rise of novel technologies available for managing polytrauma and stroke, which reduce brain death cases.

Conclusions: The trend in organ donation from 2019 to 2024 is generally declining with the exception of a post-pandemic spike in 2021 and 2022. Sociopsychological factors, including the pandemic, were initial barriers, but technological and critical care developments seem to now drive the decline in donors.