Abdominal organ procurement in the Netherlands an analysis of quality and clinical impact

Between March 2012 and August 2013, 591 quality forms were filled out for abdominal organs in the Netherlands. In 133 cases (23%), there was a discrepancy between the evaluation from the procuring and transplanting surgeons. Injuries were seen in 148 (25%) organs of which 12 (2%) led to discarding of the organ: one of 133 (0.8%) livers, five of 38 (13%) pancreata and six of 420 (1.4%) kidneys (P <0.001). Higher donor BMI was a risk factor for procurement-related injury in all organs (OR: 1.06, P = 0.011) and donor after cardiac death (DCD) donation in liver procurement (OR: 2.31, P = 0.034). DCD donation is also associated with more pancreata being discarded due to injury (OR: 10.333, P = 0.046). A higher procurement volume in a centre was associated with less injury in pancreata (OR = -0.95, P = 0.013) and kidneys (OR = -0.91, P = 0.012). The quality form system efficiently monitors the quality of organ procurement. Although there is a relatively high rate of organ injury, the discard rate is low and it does not significantly affect 1-year graft survival for any organ. We identified higher BMI as a risk factor for injury in abdominal organs and DCD as a risk factor in livers. A higher procurement volume is associated with fewer injuries.