eli5: how come when your organs are in your body, they need to be 98 degrees, but in an organ transplant the organ is cooled?

Question

eli5: how come when your organs are in your body, they need to be 98 degrees, but in an organ transplant the organ is cooled?

In: 274

Answer 1

You keep meat in the fridge to stop it going bad and prolong it’s use by date. Same thing with organs. Cold ischaemia (time without oxygenated blood getting to the muscle) is longer than warm ischemia time.