United States: People taking GLP-1 drugs, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and others, might experience adverse effects during surgery, studies indicate.
More about the study
As one study illustrated by UTHealth Houston, over fifty percent of the patients given GLP-1s had what researchers refer to as ‘significant gastric contents’ even when they adhered to the standard pre-operative fasting guidelines, as stated by a press release on the university’s website.
Furthermore, it primarily result in Pulmonary aspiration, a condition which may cause a severe threat to one’s life, and it results when food and liquids are forced into the lungs.
GLP-1 administration of glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists is usually recommended to patients with type 2 diabetes to help stabilize their blood glucose levels. It can also be used for weight loss in obese patients.
According to Dr. Alfred Bonati, the founder of the Bonati Spine Institute in Florida, “These medications slow down digestion, which means food stays in the stomach longer,” as Fox News reported.
Pulmonary aspiration can lead to severe complications that affect the lungs and bring on infection or even death, Bonati cautioned.
He added, “General anesthesia can also cause nausea, and the slowed digestion from weight-loss meds can exacerbate this, leading to a higher risk of vomiting during surgery.”
What more have the experts reported?
St. Mary’s Medical Center, located in Florida, has Dr. Brett Osborn, a board-certified neurosurgeon and section chief who recommended that patients on GLP-1 agonists should halt the medication one week before the surgery, he said.
Moreover, Osborn said some challenges come with aspiration, such as postoperative ileus, a dysfunction of the intestines after surgery.
To Osborn, all that is less important than the issue of healing, which does not seem to be a priority for patients under GLP-1s.
He said, “This could predispose patients to significant problems, including bowel ischemia (a rare circulatory condition that occurs when blood flow to the intestines is reduced),” as Fox News reported.
Moreover, “Those following a hypocaloric diet, as is the case with patients on GLP-1 agonists, may potentially inhibit healing and recovery from surgery, which requires a caloric surplus, particularly from protein-laden foods,” as he continued.
Osbort also noted that proper nutrition intake is crucial for tissue recovery and said, “By inducing a relative state of malnutrition, these medications can be problematic in perioperative patients.”
Another surgeon, Dr. Jean-Carlos Jimenez, the medical director of Attune Med Spa in Connecticut, also soon stated that such medications can cause complications in surgery.
“GLP-1 agonists can cause nausea, vomiting, and something known as delayed gastric emptying, or gastroparesis — which means the stomach takes longer than usual to empty its contents into the small intestines,” he told Fox News.
He continued, “Residual gastric content can increase the risk of pulmonary aspiration during anesthesia and potentially worsen postoperative recovery.”