Extracorporeal life support and multiorgan donation in a severe polytrauma patient: A case report

INTRODUCTION: Organ availability represents a key factor in transplants due to an almost universal shortage of deceased donors. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We present the case of a 41-year-old patients with severe polytrauma, where extracorporeal life support (ECLS) allowed brain death (BD) declaration and multiorgan retrieval and transplantation. DISCUSSION: Organ procurement is of utmost importance for transplant procedures. The presented case could rise ethical doubts as ECLS could be viewed as a tool for organ preservation instead of patient support. Nonetheless, it is obvious how organ preservation represents the necessary condition for patient preservation. CONCLUSION: : Besides it' role in non heart beating donors, ECLS is emerging as an adjunctive tool for brain dead donors management when standard treatment fails, potentially allowing a substantial increase in organ availability. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of Surgical Associates Ltd.