• Lisabeth D Miller, Stuart K Gardiner, and K Dean Gubler.
• Pacific Northwest Transplant Bank, 2611 SW Third Avenue Suite 320, Portland, OR 97201, USA. Electronic address: millerli@ohsu.edu.
• Am. J. Surg. 2014 May 1;207(5):728-33; discussion 733-4.

BackgroundThis study sought to determine whether early referral from the emergency department (ED) would increase the number of organ donors and the number of organs transplanted per donor (OTPD).MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort analysis of all patients referred to a single organ procurement organization for a period of 60 months.ResultsPatients referred for organ donation evaluation from the ED were more likely to become organ donors than patients referred from the intensive care unit (19.3% vs 5.2%, P < .001). ED referrals had a greater number of OTPD than those referred from the intensive care unit (mean 3.79 vs 3.16, P = .024), even after adjusting for the higher proportion of ED referrals who were trauma patients (P = .001).ConclusionsReferral for organ donation from the ED is associated with an increased likelihood of organ recovery and with an increased number of OTPD.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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