In 2015, France authorised controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) according to a nationally approved protocol. The aim of this study is to provide an overview from the perspective of critical care specialists of cDCD. The primary objective is to assess how the organ donation procedure affects the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies (WLST) process. The secondary objective is to assess the impact of cDCD donors’ diagnoses on the whole process.

This 2015–2019 prospective observational multicentre study evaluated the WLST process in all potential cDCD donors identified nationwide, comparing 2 different sets of subgroups: 1- those whose WLST began after organ donation was ruled out vs. while it was still under consideration; 2- those with a main diagnosis of post-anoxic brain injury (PABI) vs. primary brain injury (PBI) at the time of the WLST decision.

The study analysed 908 potential cDCD donors. Organ donation remained under consideration at WLST initiation for 54.5% of them with longer intervals between their WLST decision and its initiation (2 [1–4] vs. 1 [1–2] days, P < 0.01). Overall, 60% had post-anoxic brain injury. Time from ICU admission to WLST decision was longer for primary brain injury donors (10 [4–21] vs. 6 [4–9] days, P < 0.01). Median time to death (agonal phase) was 15 [15–20] min.

French cDCD donors are mostly related to post-anoxic brain injury. The organ donation process does not accelerate WLST decision but increases the interval between the WLST decision and its initiation.