Introduction: Severe burn injuries were once considered a barrier to organ donation due to concerns around tissue viability and recipient outcomes. Developments in critical care management and embedding of Best Practice for organ donation have improved the potential for successful outcomes.
Objectives: This study aims to analyse the outcomes of organ donation among patients with burn injury admitted to the Alfred ICU from 2014 to 2023.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using deidentified data from Alfred ICU, burns registries, and organ donation databases, including ANZICS and the Organ and Tissue Authority. The focus was on patients transitioning to end-of-life care and undergoing organ donation evaluation.
Results: Out of 661 patients admitted to ICU with burns, data was available for 73 of the 74 patients who died in ICU. Of the 68 patients referred to DonateLife Victoria, 30 were deemed medically suitable for donation. Family consent for organ donation was obtained from 18 patients, resulting in 18 actual organ donors.
Organ retrieval included 30 kidneys (25 transplanted), 4 livers (3 transplanted), 3 lungs (3 transplanted), 1 pancreas (1 transplanted), and 1 heart (not transplanted).
Conclusion: Burns patients, once considered unsuitable for organ donation, can contribute to transplantation with favourable outcomes for recipients. While the limited sample size imposes constraints on the generalisability of our findings, the positive outcomes observed among recipients are encouraging. ​These findings warrant further exploration into optimising referral and donation processes in this patient population.