Research status and outlook of pediatric organ donation / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

The shortage of children donor organs is a challenge and the current situation of organ donation.Although pediatric families are very willing to donate, the rate of successful pediatric organ donation is still low.Living related donors devote a big part in the donor pool.Pediatric organ donation has characteristics different from the adult one.For instance, pediatric brain death is difficult to assess, pediatric organs are usually used by adult recipients, pedia-tric patients wait longer than adult patients, more pediatric patients die during the waiting period, pediatric patients′ rights are not protected by specific laws or policies.There are lots of dilemmas in pediatric organ donation.The current situation can be improved by making great efforts on propaganda, improving communication skills of pediatric organ donation coordinators, perfecting the humanitarian assistance system, encouraging medical workers to participate in organ donation, and enhancing recognition and maintenance levels of potential donors.In this paper, the research status of pedia-tric organ donation was reviewed.