Neuroanesthesia & neurocritical care
Anti-infective management in brain-dead organ donors – A retrospective analysis at two centers reveals need for improvement
Authors' conclusion
Antimicrobial use was high during intensive care unit stay, low during organ retrieval and inconsistent between both periods. Inflammatory markers were insufficient to indicate infection.
Study context
- Population
- Brain-dead organ donors at University Hospitals Münster (2010–2024) and Bielefeld Bethel (2020–2024)
- Participants
- 149 donors
- Outcome
- Use and indication of antimicrobials, microbiological diagnostics and inflammatory markers during ICU stay and organ retrieval
Methodological detailstwo-centre
- Two-centre
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Antimicrobial use
- Received antimicrobials in the ICU
- 76.5 %
- Received antimicrobials during organ retrieval
- 21.5 %
- Indication for antimicrobials documented
- 61 %
- Aspiration pneumonia among diagnoses
- 33 %
- Ventilator-associated pneumonia among diagnoses
- 33 %
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Positive microbiological cultures
- Donors with positive cultures, without correlation to antimicrobial exposure or length of exposure
- 36 %
Inflammatory markers out of normal range
- C-reactive protein
- 67-100 %
- White blood cell count
- 53-88 %
- Procalcitonin
- 22-43 %
- Only C-reactive protein differed between the day before and the day of brain death diagnosis and between infected and non-infected donors
Original publication
Anti-infective management in brain-dead organ donors – A retrospective analysis at two centers reveals need for improvement. J Crit Care. Published 21 July 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →