No personal experience since we are not involved. But the ones who become actual donors are apparently reintubated.
I’ve read that potential lung donors are reintubated after a 2-10 min “no touch period”, so they can get bronchoscopy to be sure there was no aspiration after extubation, and to assist in dissection of donor lungs. The “no touch period” is there to make sure they don’t come back from the dead on their own with spontaneous ROSC.
Even further, I guess these donors are sometimes put on partial/regional CPB (excluding the brain) after death to minimize warm ischemia time.
From the ASA link posted above.
- Organ Recovery
- If applicable, antemortem placement of femoral or other large vessel cannulas and/or administration of pharmacologic agents for the sole purpose of optimizing donor organ function must be detailed in the consent for donation process.
- Once death is documented, the donor’s lungs will require reinflation if they are being considered for retrieval. This may necessitate reintubation of the donor. (See 3d above)
- Once there is a declaration of death, an incision to recover organs should be performed immediately. The transplant surgeons will initiate perfusion of the organs with cold preservation solution and proceed with the donor operation.
- As stated in section 3d. above, any team members actively involved in the initiation and/or maintenance of circulatory support for NRP cannot participate in the guidance or administration of end-of-life care or the declaration of death.