Observational studyBMC medical ethics2024
Tensions between end-of-life care and organ donation in controlled donation after circulatory death: ICU healthcare professionals experiences.
Observational study in BMC medical ethics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05041023 (Experience of Relatives and Caregivers of Death in ICU After the Withdrawal of Life-sustaining Therapies, Associated With an Organ Procurement Procedure), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Experience of Relatives and Caregivers of Death in ICU After the Withdrawal of Life-sustaining Therapies, Associated With an Organ Procurement Procedure (Controlled Donation After Circulatory Death).
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Ethical tensions and professional attitudes toward circulatory death organ donation in the ICU: a systematic review.Intensive care medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Challenges and Support Strategies for Intensive Care Unit Nurses in the Organ Donation Process: A Scoping Review.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Article
- Sequence and timing of organ donation discussions in brain-dead donors: a subanalysis of the J-RESPECT study.Journal of intensive care · 2026Article
- Seeking global agreement on controlled donation after circulatory determination of death: methodology and definitions of the Bucharest international European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) consensus.Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation · 2026Article
- Ten ethical challenges in donation after circulatory death (DCD): a practical guide for intensivists.Intensive care medicine · 2026Article
- Relatives' experiences of end-of-life care and organ donation after controlled circulatory death: a national prospective multicenter study.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Article
- Research Ethics Challenges, Controversies and Difficulties in Intensive Care Units-A Systematic Review of Theoretical Concepts.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
25 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe development of controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) is both important and challenging. The tension between end-of-life care and organ donation raises significant ethical issues for healthcare professionals in the intensive care unit (ICU). The aim of this prospective, multicenter, observational study is to better understand ICU physicians' and nurses' experiences with cDCD.
methodsIn 32 ICUs in France, ICU physicians and nurses were invited to complete a questionnaire after the death of end-of-life ICU patients identified as potential cDCD donors who had either experienced the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies alone or with planned organ donation (OD(-) and OD( +) groups). The primary objective was to assess their anxiety (State Anxiety Inventory STAI Y-A) following the death of a potential cDCD donor. Secondary objectives were to explore potential tensions experienced between end-of-life care and organ donation.
resultsTwo hundred six ICU healthcare professionals (79 physicians and 127 nurses) were included in the course of 79 potential cDCD donor situations. STAI Y-A did not differ between the OD(-) and OD( +) groups for either physicians or nurses (STAI Y-A were 34 (27-38) in OD(-) vs. 32 (27-40) in OD( +), p = 0.911, for physicians and 32 (25-37) in OD(-) vs. 39 (26-37) in OD( +), p = 0.875, for nurses). The possibility of organ donation was a factor influencing the WLST decision for nurses only, and a factor influencing the WLST implementation for both nurses and physicians. cDCD experience is perceived positively by ICU healthcare professionals overall.
conclusionscDCD does not increase anxiety in ICU healthcare professionals compared to other situations of WLST. WLST and cDCD procedures could further be improved by supporting professionals in making their intentions clear between end-of-life support and the success of organ donation, and when needed, by enhancing communication between ICU physician and nurses.
trial registrationThis research was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT05041023, September 10, 2021).
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