According to ONT data up to 15 March, the number of transplants saw a significant increase compared to 2022, thanks also to the increase in donations, with 505 people donating their organs after death in the first 74 days of this year, 23% more than in the same period of 2022.
In addition, 78 people have donated a kidney or part of their liver during their lifetime, a figure that is 37% higher than the previous year.
As the director general of the ONT, Beatriz Domínguez-Gil, explains, "the significant increase in activity in these first months puts us at figures similar to those of 2019, a year in which we recorded record highs".
Growth in these months is widespread across all types of transplantation. Therefore, a total of 756 kidney transplants (21% more than the previous year), 268 liver transplants (+21%), 100 lung transplants (+39%), 79 heart transplants (+23%), 21 pancreas transplants (+31%) and 2 intestinal transplants were performed. Likewise, living donor transplants have grown 37% compared to 2022.
This volume has also meant a high level of work in the central coordination office of the ONT, which employs 14 highly specialised nurses. Although the average is seven donors per day, the ONT has recorded peaks of up to 16 donors in 24 hours throughout the country.
The director of the National Transplant Organisation also highlighted the importance of asystole donation for the expansion of transplantation. At 15 March 2023, this programme had grown by 24% compared to the same period of the previous year.
It is worth noting that this type of donation has evolved from being exclusively renal to multi-organ donation, thanks to the use of the preservation procedure based on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) devices.
On this National Transplant Day, the ONT and the Ministry of Health recognise the important work of the healthcare professionals and patient associations that make up the Union of Solid Organ Transplant Recipients (UTxs), as well as the solidarity of donors and their families who say yes to donation and who, with this affirmation, "leave their mark".
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