To investigate the surgical techniques and effect of organ procurement from donation after cardiac death (DCD).

Clinical data of 64 DCD donors implementing organ donation in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from July 2012 to December 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 52 males and 12 females, aged 25 d to 57 years with a median age of 31 years. Forty-two donors were with cerebral damage, 18 with cerebral vascular accidents and 4 with brain nervous system diseases. The agreement statement of organ donation signed by the family relatives of all donators were obtained and the local ethical committee approval had been received. Organ procurement was performed by in situ rapid perfusion of abdominal aorta-superior mesenteric vein and rapid retrieval and separation of liver-kidney.

All the organ procurement operations were performed successfully. The median operative time was 30(22-48) min. Sixty-four livers and 128 kidneys were procured and successfully applied to 58 hepatic, 118 renal and 2 liver-kidney transplantations. Twelve organs including 4 livers and 8 kidneys were discarded. The graft function recovered well after operation except one developed primary graft failure.

In DCD organ procurement, rapid perfusion and retrieval of liver-kidney play a pivotal role in ensuring high-quality donated organs and enhancing surgical therapeutic effect.