Ok, so suppose someone that’s a registered organ donor gets in some kind of awful accident, massive head trauma, they’re brain dead and they’re only being kept clinically alive by machines.
So they take them into the OR to do the organ recovery. The donor in question wants EVERYTHING to be taken, whether it ends up being used for an actual transplant or if it’s going to end up being used for medical research. And let’s suppose that other than the brain, pretty much everything else is good. Bones are going to be harvested as well as skin.
So the question is …
can they take their blood? I mean - I would assume some of their blood has to be pumping through the body during the organ recovery, but once they’re done, is there any reason it can’t be used?
If I recall correctly from blood bank training, assuming cadaveric blood is collected in a timely manner there is no medical reason why it can not be used in the same way and with the same efficacy as blood from living donors. I think I remember that this means of collecting blood was developed back in the 20s and 30s in the USSR, and has been used much more extensively in that part of the world. However, it never caught on in the US, mostly due to the ick factor, it seems.
I used to do organ harvesting and I never knew of blood being asked for.
I would have thought that the drugs that were used to resuscitate or to sustain life till the harvest was scheduled would be a contraindication though.
By the way all organs are flushed through by the perfusionist as soon as they leave the body so all the donors blood is washed away, before it is packed in ice.