Checklist for screening a tissue donor
The screening of a donor for tissue donation must be done carefully. This physical inspection is more thorough than that for determining death. View the points of attention.
Check with every donor
- What are the height and weight?The provided values are not always correct. Therefore, check the patient file or make an accurate estimate yourself.
- Does the donor have an extremely protruding belly?That can hinder prone positioning, making a donation procedure impossible to perform.
- Are there (surgical) scars?Find out the cause of each scar, for example by checking the medical record. The scars may indicate a contraindication. For instance, a joint prosthesis can be a contraindication for bone donation or a scar on the chest can indicate heart surgery.
- Tattoos on legs or back?Then discuss with the family how to handle this when cutting into the skin.
Check the skin
For a skin donor, you also check these characteristics:
- Do you see many blemishes, such as seborrheic keratoses and moles on the legs and back?Then skin donation cannot proceed.
- Can you count the ribs?Then the donor is too thin and skin removal cannot proceed.
- Is the quality of the skin good?With thin skin / prednisone skin, skin donation cannot proceed. This concerns skin that is fragile and easily damaged.
- Is there overfilling?Excessive edema in the donor area (legs and back) is a contraindication for skin donation.
Tip! Tissue donation e-learning
Proper inspection is also covered in the Tissue Donation e-learning. The e-learning gives you a complete picture of tissue donation.