ICU Team Knowledge on The Management of Potential Organ Donor with Brain Death: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction: advances in the area of health have been occurring in an accelerated and constant way, and the prolongation of life through organ donation, emphasizes the importance of the knowledge of health professionals on this subject. Brain dead donors are the main source of transplant organs, therefore, measures that promote early identification are essential for appropriate clinical support, Based on this context, it is known that the knowledge by the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) team regarding the pathophysiological alterations triggered by brain death (ME) and the adequate clinical management of the potential donor are associated with a greater number of transplantable organs per donor and the reduction of losses of potential donors due to cardiorespiratory arrest. Objective:identify and describe guidelines for donor care in ME, in addition to analyzing the importance of knowledge about the management of potential organ donors by the ICU team, in the scientific publications available in online databases. Method: data collection was carried out through a search of the online databases: SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) and PUBMED. The articles were downloaded from the aforementioned platforms, and the Zotero was used to make the appropriate citations and references. The research will be made up of published and updated literatures that reflect the importance of knowledge about the management of the potential organ donor with brain death by the ICU team. Results and discusión:we included 17 studies that met the criteria related to the object of study. According to the results achieved, the study allowed to obtain a more detailed vision of the studies arising from the search for data, highlighting categories such as those that reflect the importance of the knowledge of the ICU team, on the proper management of a patient with brain death, which reflect positively on the process of organ and tissue donation. Conclusions: the analysis carried out shows that UC professionals have a low level of knowledge about the diagnosis and management of patients with brain death and the organ donation process, which is due, in part, to the little or no contact they have with this topic during graduation, therefore the need for the ICU team to be trained and prepared to identify physiological alterations and adequately address to the patient diagnosed with EM, in order to contribute to making organ and tissue donation viable. Reducing the time and suffering of those waiting for an organ on the transplant waiting list