The Analytical Trend of Body Donation for Study and Research at Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University

Abstract

Introduction: In the study of gross anatomy, it requires the donated bodies or cadavers as a source of learning and training. The dissection of human body is an essential part of the education applied for medical practice and treatment. Presently, requirement of cadavers is increased according to the number of students. To suitably prepare in advance, the numbers of donors and cadavers must be estimated. Thus, the aim of this work was to study the tendency of body donation and estimate the approximate number of cadavers.

Method: Data of the body donors from 1994 to 2016 was collected from databases of Anatomy Division, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University. The total number and percentage of body donation and cadavers were calculated, and the trend of donors and cadavers in the next 10 years were investigated.

Results: The study shows that total number of the donors is 12,823. The age of most donors is range from 41 to 60 years old. Of all 527 donors who passed away, only 441 bodies can be prepared for preservation and the remaining 83 are refused. The reason for not being able to receive the dead donor most likely dues to incomplete physical condition and relative’s reluctance. In addition, the tendency of the donors and death donors are increased in number in the next 10 years.

Discussion and Conclusion: The number of body donation increases every year, but the number of cadavers is not correlate to the number of donation. This study reveals that the highest age of cadaver is more than 80 years old, and most of cadavers are male compared to female. From the data of involving number of body donations reflect the sufficient number of cadavers in need in the long term used.