Veterinary tissue banking: the role of the veterinary nurse
Abstract
Tissue banking involves harvesting specific tissues from donated remains, and processing and storing these tissues such that they may be used as tissue grafts in recipient patients. Veterinary tissue banking involves a coordinated series of processes including establishing and maintaining a donor register, informed consent from owners, tissue retrieval and processing, delivery of the graft to the recipient patient, and recording the use of grafts. Veterinary nurses may be involved in several of these steps particularly with communication to owners regarding the benefits of tissue donation and coordinating donation itself. Nurses working in practices with a surgical interest may manage an inventory of grafts in the practice as well as assisting with, and recording, graft usage by surgeons. This paper reviews the process of tissue banking with particular emphasis on the role of veterinary nurses and provides nurses with encouragement to become more involved in the tissue donation process
Tissue banking involves harvesting specific tissues, such as bone, from donated remains and processing and storing (‘banking’) these tissues such that they may be distributed and used as tissue grafts in recipient patients. Veterinary tissue banking and transplantation is still in its infancy but veterinary nurses have a key role to play in many aspects of this developing field from raising awareness with pet owners, to the process of tissue donation itself, post-donation support to pet owners and also the delivery of tissue grafts to patients, and the recording of graft use. Tissues that are suitable for banking and transplantation include blood, bone, tendon, ligament, meniscus, cornea, skin and heart valves (Pegg, 2006). While blood transfusion is well established in companion animals, the process of collecting blood and storing it in a blood bank is a more recent phenomenon in the UK. However, bone banking and distribution is also gaining in popularity (Hoffer et al, 2008; Innes and Myint, 2010) and it is likely that other tissues will also be increasingly sourced and used.
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