Adherence to guidelines for the management of donors after brain death.

PURPOSE: Guideline adherence for the management of a donor after brain death (DBD) is largely unknown. This study aimed to perform an importance-performance analysis of prioritized key interventions (KIs) by linking guideline adherence rates to expert consensus ratings for the management of a DBD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational, cross-sectional multicenter study was performed in 21 Belgian ICUs. A retrospective review of patient records of adult utilized DBDs between 2013 and 2016 used 67 KIs to describe adherence to guidelines.

RESULTS: A total of 296 patients were included. Thirty-five of 67 KIs had a high level of adherence congruent to a high expert panel rating of importance. Nineteen of 67 KIs had a low level of adherence in spite of a high level of importance according to expert consensus. However, inadequate documentation proved an important issue, hampering true guideline adherence assessment. Adherence ranged between 3 and 100% for single KI items and on average, patients received 72% of the integrated expert panel recommended care set.

CONCLUSIONS: Guideline adherence to an expert panel predefined care set in DBD donor management proved moderate leaving substantial room for improvement. An importance-performance analysis can be used to improve implementation and documentation of guidelines.