Tissue donation
Tissue donation: what is it and how does it work? And what is the difference between organs and tissues? Get answers to your questions about tissue donation here.
Difference between organs and tissues
Organ donation is better known than tissue donation. And yet, tissue transplants improve the lives of thousands of people every year. For example, people can see again thanks to a donor cornea. Or they have less pain and scarring after burns thanks to donor skin. Sufficient donor tissue is needed for tissue transplantation.
What is tissue donation?
With tissue donation, a deceased person donates tissue. This tissue ends up in a tissue bank. Doctors use these tissues to help patients. This can improve their quality of life.
Whether or not you want to become a tissue donor after your death can be registered in the Donor Register. You can do this at the same time as choosing whether or not you want to donate organs.
These tissues can be donated:
- Eye tissue
- Skin
- Bone tissue
- Cartilage
- Tendon tissue
- Heart valves
How does tissue donation work?
If someone is a tissue donor, a special retrieval team will come to the funeral home or hospital after death to retrieve the tissues. They do this with great care and do not remove anything from areas that are visible when the body is laid out. The tissues are then examined. If they are healthy enough for a transplant, they go to a special storage facility. We call this a tissue bank. From there, the tissue goes to a patient who will be helped by it.
Milou has a donor meniscus
Milou suffered a serious knee injury at 17. After a few surgeries and long rehabilitation without results, a solution was found: a donor meniscus. She had no idea this existed. Thanks to that donor tissue, she can do much more again now.
Read her story
Frequently asked questions
If I donate my skin, can someone walk around with my tattoo later?
No, that is not possible. Only unprocessed skin is used for transplantation. If you have a tattoo, they leave it as is. It is possible that incisions are made through the tattoos, for example with bone donation, and that the tattoos are damaged as a result. Perhaps you or your loved ones would not want that. In that case, discuss your wishes with them. You can exclude skin from donation.
Does my family have to pay anything if I donate tissues?
Surviving relatives do not pay extra costs for tissue donation. The family may receive a bill for normal costs surrounding the death of a loved one who was a donor. This concerns the amount the family would have had to pay even if the deceased had not donated tissues.
Will my body look neat for my family and loved ones after donation?
Yes, the retrieval team takes care of that.Read more here about what you can see of the tissue donation.