A new review has addressed recent concerns about the safety of taking GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy before undergoing surgery. The issue stemmed from the fact that these weight-loss drugs can slow gastric emptying, raising fears that food lingering in the stomach could increase the risk of aspiration and choking during procedures requiring anesthesia. However, after analyzing data from 15 randomized studies involving 652 participants, researchers found that while GLP-1 drugs do affect gastrointestinal motility, their impact on delaying gastric emptying was only minimal – around 36 minutes on average.
According to the senior author Dr. Walter Chan, who directs the Center of Gastrointestinal Motility at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, this minor delay does not appear significant enough to pose a substantial danger during surgery. Notably, none of the participants in the analyzed studies experienced pulmonary aspiration linked to delayed stomach emptying while taking GLP-1 medications. Current guidelines on their use before procedures are mixed, with some organizations recommending stopping the drugs up to a week before elective surgeries, while others suggest continuing them but following standard pre-surgery liquid diet precautions.
Based on their findings, the research team recommends updating the guidelines to allow continuing GLP-1 therapy before endoscopic procedures or those requiring anesthesia or sedation. Their proposed precautions include following a liquid-only diet the day prior and adhering to standard pre-anesthesia fasting instructions. As the lead author Dr. Brent Hiramoto explained, until more data on solid diets is available, a conservative approach with a liquid diet while continuing the medication is advisable.
