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Background The Institutionalised Patient Care Unit (IPCU) aims to humanise and optimise the care of the institutionalised older patients in the Emergency Department (ED), promoting their early functional recovery. Likewise, this unit promotes multidisciplinary team-working to achieve decisions swiftly in order to reduce the average stay in the ED and to reduce unnecessary tests and hospitalisations. Purpose To describe the role of the hospital pharmacist in the IPCU. Material and methods The IPCU began its activity in October 2016. The incorporation of the pharmacist was done on a part-time basis. The pharmaceutical intervention focused on medication reconciliation, review and optimisation, and, in addition, on the coordination, together with the nurses, of continuity of care and of the dispensing of parenteral antibiotics to nursing homes. Results From October 2016 to May 2017, 2236 patients were treated at the IPCU, with an average stay time of 18 hour 6 min (53.4% were discharged, 31.3% admitted, 15.3% transferred to another hospital). In that period, the pharmacist performed medication reconciliation to 511 patients (22.8% of the total patients attended) (64.7% females; mean age: 85.5±8.1 years; 9.4±3.6 chronic drugs per patient). Of the 511 patients, 407 (79.6%) required some type of pharmaceutical intervention. The number of interventions was 884 (2.2 interventions per patient, on average). The most frequent interventions (79) were collected in a document according to the drug or therapeutic group involved in order to streamline and standardise the pharmaceutical intervention in the future. The errors of greatest clinical impact detected were those related to anticoagulants, digoxin, antiepileptics, opioids, antiparkinsonians and beta-blockers. Regarding the dispensing of parenteral antibiotics to the nursing homes, we gave intravenous treatment to 25 patients: eight (36%) amoxicillin/clavulanate; five (20%) ertapenem, 4 (16%) piperacillin/tazobactam; 4four (16%) ceftriaxone; and four (16%) other. In addition, written information was developed to ensure the correct administration of the medication. Conclusion The development of the pharmaceutical care process in the IPCU contributes to improving safety and quality of urgent healthcare and helps to optimise the therapy at discharge from the ED. Coordination with the IPCU team facilitates the dispensation of medication to institutionalised patients, and highlights the requirement for the pharmacist in the management of avoidable hospitalisations. No conflict of interest

The availability of organ donors is a limiting factor for kidney transplants. Donations from non-heart-beating donors (NHBD) can provide as many as one-third of all organs. Controlled patients awaiting cardiac arrest following limitation of life support techniques, or type III Maastricht donors, constitute an alternative that still has yet to be systematically developed.Descriptive series of 10 cases occurring between January and April 2012.Over a period of 6 months, we designed a protocol for extracting and managing kidney transplants and providing immunosuppression therapy. Patients are evaluated in accordance with the criteria agreed by a different team responsible for transplant coordination. We established a maximum duration of time between limitation of life-sustaining therapy and death of 120 minutes and 60 minutes warm ischaemia. Two types of graft perfusion were used, one in situ through direct application to the surgical area, and another using ante mortem vascular canalisation. Immunosuppression therapy included induction with thymoglobulin, steroids, and mycophenolate, with introduction of tacrolimus on the seventh day. Data are expressed as median and (range).We included the first 10 cases of kidney transplants with organs from 5 NHBD (type III Maastricht): 4 males, mean age of 57 years (45-66 years), with limitation of life-sustaining therapy due to anoxic encephalopathy (2), intoxication (1), acute stroke (2) and terminal respiratory failure (1). The following mean time intervals were recorded: effective warm ischaemia: 20 minutes (8-23 minutes) and cold ischaemia: 7.5 hours (4-14.1 hours). Recipients had a mean age of 58 years (32-71 years), with various aetiologies (2 cases of glomerulonephritis, 1 polycystic kidney disease, 2 tubulo-interstitial nephropathy, 4 vascular, and 1 unknown), with a mean 31.7 months on haemodialysis (11-84 months); the kidney was a second transplant in two cases. No patients were hyper-immunised. Six patients required a dialysis session at some point, and four had prolonged acute tubular necrosis, over a mean hospitalisation period of 24.5 days (8-44 days). Mean creatinine (Cr) one month after transplantation was 2.1mg/dl (0.7-3.2mg/dl), and mean nadir creatinine was 1.2mg/dl (0.7-3.2mg/dl). One patient did not improve upon Cr values3.2mg/dl, despite the absence of evidence of toxicity or rejection in a renal biopsy, and the transplant pair reached a Cr of 1.4mg/dl. Throughout the series, similar surgical complications were recorded to those observed in conventional donor situations.Despite the limitations of this preliminary study, the use of this type of transplant produces favourable short-term evolution. Expanded use of this type of donor could reduce the waiting-list time for a kidney transplant.

Introducción: La disponibilidad de donantes es el factor limitante para el trasplante renal. El donante en asistolia (DAS) no controlado proporciona hasta un tercio de los órganos. El DAS controlado tras limitación de técnicas de soporte vital (LTSV) o tipo III de Maastricht constituye una alternativa aún por desarrollar de forma sistemática. Tipo de estudio: Descriptivo, serie de 10 casos realizados entre enero y abril 2012. Métodos: A lo largo de 6 meses se diseña el protocolo de extracción y manejo del trasplante e inmunosupresión entre los equipos implicados. Se evalúan los pacientes de acuerdo con los criterios consensuados por un equipo distinto al responsable de coordinación de trasplante. Se establece un tiempo máximo 120 min desde LTSV hasta fallecimiento y de 60 min de isquemia caliente. Se utilizan dos tipos de perfusión de injerto, uno in situ por abordaje directo en lecho quirúrgico y otro con canalización vascular antemortem. La pauta de inmunosupresión incluye inducción con timoglobulina, esteroides y micofenolato e introducción de tacrolimus al séptimo día. Se muestran datos como mediana y (rango). Resultados: Se incluyen los 10 primeros casos de trasplante renal con órganos procedentes de 5 DAS tipo III de Maastricht: 4 varones, edad media 57 años (45-66), con LTSV por encefalopatía anóxica (2), intoxicación (1), accidente cerebrovascular agudo (2) e insuficiencia respiratoria terminal (1). Los tiempos registrados fueron: isquemia caliente efectiva de 20 min (8-23) e isquemia fría de 7,5 horas (4-14,1). Los receptores tenían 58 años (32-71), con distintas etiologías (2 glomerulonefritis, 1 poliquistosis, 2 nefropatía tubulointersticial, 4 vasculares y 1 no filiada), llevaban en hemodiálisis 31,7 meses (11-84) y para 2 de ellos era su segundo trasplante. Ninguno era hiperinmunizado. Seis pacientes precisaron alguna sesión de diálisis y cuatro presentaron necrosis tubular aguda prolongada, durante un ingreso de 24,5 días (8-44 d). La creatinina (Cr) al mes del trasplante fue de 2,1 mg/dl (0,7-3,2) y la Cr nadir fue de 1,2 mg/dl (0,7-3,2 mg/dl). Un paciente no mejoró su Cr por debajo de 3,2 mg/dl aunque la biopsia no mostró toxicidad ni rechazo, y su pareja de trasplante alcanzó una Cr de 1,4 mg/dl. En toda la serie se constataron complicaciones quirúrgicas similares a las de nuestra serie histórica de donantes convencionales. Conclusiones: Con las limitaciones de un estudio preliminar, el uso de este tipo de injertos presenta una evolución favorable a corto plazo. La utilización de este tipo de donante puede ayudar a reducir el tiempo de espera para un trasplante. Introduction: The availability of organ donors is a limiting factor for kidney transplants. Donations from non-heart-beating donors (NHBD) can provide as many as one-third of all organs. Controlled patients awaiting cardiac arrest following limitation of life support techniques, or type III Maastricht donors, constitute an alternative that still has yet to be systematically developed. Study type: Descriptive series of 10 cases occurring between January and April 2012. Method: Over a period of 6 months, we designed a protocol for extracting and managing kidney transplants and providing immunosuppression therapy. Patients are evaluated in accordance with the criteria agreed by a different team responsible for transplant coordination. We established a maximum duration of time between limitation of life-sustaining therapy and death of 120 minutes and 60 minutes warm ischaemia. Two types of graft perfusion were used, one in situ through direct application to the surgical area, and another using ante mortem vascular canalisation. Immunosuppression therapy included induction with thymoglobulin, steroids, and mycophenolate, with introduction of tacrolimus on the seventh day. Data are expressed as median and (range). Results: We included the first 10 cases of kidney transplants with organs from 5 NHBD (type III Maastricht): 4 males, mean age of 57 years (45-66 years), with limitation of life-sustaining therapy due to anoxic encephalopathy (2), intoxication (1), acute stroke (2) and terminal respiratory failure (1). The following mean time intervals were recorded: effective warm ischaemia: 20 minutes (8-23 minutes) and cold ischaemia: 7.5 hours (4-14.1 hours). Recipients had a mean age of 58 years (32-71 years), with various aetiologies (2 cases of glomerulonephritis, 1 polycystic kidney disease, 2 tubulo-interstitial nephropathy, 4 vascular, and 1 unknown), with a mean 31.7 months on haemodialysis (11-84 months); the kidney was a second transplant in two cases. No patients were hyper-immunised. Six patients required a dialysis session at some point, and four had prolonged acute tubular necrosis, over a mean hospitalisation period of 24.5 days (8-44 days). Mean creatinine (Cr) one month after transplantation was 2.1mg/dl (0.7-3.2mg/dl), and mean nadir creatinine was 1.2mg/dl (0.7-3.2mg/dl). One patient did not improve upon Cr values