FIGURE 1:

Ethical Factors Considered by Trauma Surgeons in Resuscitating a Non-Survivable Injury for Transplantation

Over a 3-month period, we conducted a survey of trauma surgeons at ACS-verified Level I and Level II trauma centers in Tennessee to identify individual practice patterns during acute trauma resuscitation. Ethical concerns about resuscitating with a goal of preserving organ donation and transplantation potential in cases of non-survivable injury were assessed using a hypothetical sample patient scenario of a 22-year-old previously healthy man who presents after a gunshot wound to the head which appears to be transtentorial.