The tenderness of medical care in an organ donor’s last hours | Aeon Essays
In the liminal time when the brain is dead but organs are kept alive, there is an urgent tenderness to medical care
Hasnain says:
"The problem is that certain medicines necessarily given to these donors before death, but in expectation of death, may hasten their death. The medicines are given for the sole purpose of making their organs more viable for transplantation. Heparin, for example, prevents blood clotting, while phentolamine dilates blood vessels and improves blood flow to the organs. Yet heparin also increases the chances of bleeding into the brain, while phentolamine may lower blood pressure to the degree that a person goes into shock. Although these patients are near death for other reasons, the medicines may become their actual cause of death. This makes doctors uneasy; hence the rule not to give these medicines to donors prone to bleeding or with low blood pressure."
Posted on 2024-05-28T03:56:41+0000