In 2023, the number of lung, liver, and heart transplants across the country each increased by more than 10%, according to The New York Times. New perfusion technology is both meeting the demand and increasing opportunities for transplant, extending new life to donor organs by outperforming former methods of cooling them down to preserve function.
Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) is one of the innovative technologies improving the viability of organs for transplant. “[It] restores oxygenated blood flow following cardiac arrest and reverses warm ischemia,” says Cureus, which also calls NRP “a cost-effective alternative in donation after circulatory death (DCD)” that will “increase the pool of donors in heart transplantation.” After three to six minutes of the absence of heart activity, NRP is quickly initiated to restore blood flow to the donated organs in situ using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) or cardiopulmonary bypass technology.
With prior cool-down methods, the organ viability window is short — just six hours for lungs and hearts, and 12 hours for livers. But with NRP, that window widens, allowing surgeons and recipient patients more critical time to prepare for and engage in a transplant surgery.
You Can Trust SpecialtyCare’s Expertise in NRP Procedures
Since early 2022, SpecialtyCare’s teams have been leading the way in NRP organ procurement procedures. No other provider can match our experience, scale, coverage, availability, or capabilities. If your hospital is seeking assistance in the implementation or maintenance of NRP technology for organ transplants, we can provide the following:
- Expert consultation and communication
- 24/7/365 team availability
- Response times as low as two hours
- Procurement of any thoracic or abdominal organs
- Provision of state-of-the-art equipment and disposables, at volume purchase discounts
- 100% coverage of all team transport expenses
- Per case and retainer pricing models
NRP organ procurement can deliver benefits that transform your processes:
- Reduces warm ischemic organ injury
- Allows for a visual function assessment while the organs are still in the donor body
- Increases organ energy storage
- Strengthens organ homeostasis
- Improves organ recovery after transplant
Contact SpecialtyCare for NRP Services
Does your hospital want to improve its adoption and use of NRP? Contact SpecialtyCare to learn more about our capabilities and experience or to discuss your specific organ procurement support needs. Our teams become an integrated part of your team, making surgery safer and ensuring that you can continue to provide excellent care to your patients. We support more than 250 hospitals across the United States with perfusion services, and we perform more than 1,000 ECMO procedures annually. And, as the nation’s largest purchaser of ECMO and perfusion equipment and disposables, we pass considerable savings on to our clients. Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist you!