Development of preservation injury in human intestines obtained from DCD-NRP

Background: DCD have traditionally not been considered for intestinal procurement but the advent of various perfusion technologies, including normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) has recently rekindled the interest in DCD donation. Since the intestines are very susceptive to ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) questions have been raised regarding the effect of DCD-NRP on the intestine and subsequent injury. We studied the development of preservation injury in small intestines procured from DCD-NRP donors and compared it to intestines from age-matched donors after brain death (DBD).